I’m a pretty busy mom with 2.5 kids, a house, chickens, food, and part-time teaching work outside of the home. Blogging takes time. Why I am I bothering to sit down and write this thing every day?

Is my writing for income? Well, lots of bloggers make money, right? (I like making money, too. Don’t you?) Let’s be honest. If I can make money by blogging, great. I would love to be able to bring in a part-time income while staying home with my kids. You see that I include affiliate links/reviews/etc. to help support my efforts periodically. I think that monetizing a blog can be a great way to justify the time spent writing- so long as the methods to do so remain true to the content, the readership, and my conscience.

But should it be all about the income? Look, if money making ever becomes more important than the writing, somebody shut me down, okay? Because nobody wants to read a blog that is overrun by obnoxious, inappropriate ads, sponsored posts every other day, and useless blather to boot- just in the name of a little extra cash.

Okay, now that we’ve got that out of the way- what are the main reasons why I write?

Writing is first and foremost an outlet for me. I have always liked writing (though by no means am I great at it), and I have pretty much always written for fun in some capacity. I think that went the way of writing notes to my boyfriend/now-husband in college, but that’s beside the point.

After having our son I started writing on a regular basis again, and it has become quite therapeutic for me. I find it very relaxing to sit down and type after a busy morning with the kids. I get them to lay down for nap/quiet time, I brew some tea, grab a snack or bite of chocolate (everything in moderation), and sit down to work out my thoughts. It’s the perfect mama quiet time.

In fact, if I don’t write, it makes me crazy. I have all these thoughts in my head that I need to process. I blogged for almost three years on birth and babies, simply because I needed to think about it and get out my thoughts in a more coherent manner than my blabber mouth normally allows. After a while, I found I wanted to write about more topics than just birth- family, the garden, education, to name a few- and then this blog was born.

Not only do I really like to write, I feel that I simply must write. It saves my sanity and helps me sleep at night. 😉

Secondly, writing a good discipline for me. I talk. A lot. Too much, really. And often, too carelessly. Writing makes me take the time to think about what I’m saying before I say it. This habit encourages me to try to be a little more thoughtful in my speech as well.

Besides that, the exercise of writing a little something every day keeps my brain going – an important thing, especially since it’s turned to mommy-mush. Writing helps me to be a little more purposeful and thoughtful during my free time that I would be otherwise.

Third, writing is way to connect with people. I can update friends and family. I can learn from and be encouraged by other writers. (I’ve already met so many lovely people who I have gleaned from!) And I can hope that my own writing can maybe (possibly?) be an encouragement to someone else out there.

If no one ever read this blog, I think I’d still be writing in some capacity. I always have. But it is really encouraging to me that there actually are people who stick around and read my dinky little posts each week. Thank YOU for being the generous and thoughtful reader that you are. You rock. 🙂