When I became a mom for the first time, we were still based in Timor Leste. We had limited access to the Internet at the time at our mission center-cum-home, and were only allowed one hour of Internet browsing a day. I remember getting tons of information about baby and childcare from Babycenter.com and saving it all in one Word document, so I could read it at a later time, when I was offline.
I also remember stumbling upon this website, http://figur8.net/baby/, and being drawn into the world of Shen-Li, a Malaysian mom who wrote about her parenting adventures and other things. I didn’t realize it then, but that was the beginning of my fascination with mom blogs. (Yes, I had NO idea Shen-Li’s site was a blog!)
Fast forward to December 2009. We were on holiday in Manila and a few "techie" friends of mine suggested I try blogging. I had no idea where to start but I tried anyway, and so my first blog was "born!" (You can still see it at www.missionarymom.wordpress.com.)
At first, I had two motivations for blogging: (1) These friends of mine who suggested I try it said one could earn money from it; and (2) I wanted to chronicle our mission adventures for our family members and friends, so they’d know how we were doing in Timor.
Well, I’ve been blogging ever since then, and now I know that no. (1) is not necessarily true (though it is now for me — but that’s for another blog post). My no. (2) motivation has since evolved, since we’re not in Timor anymore, nor am I a fulltime mission worker now. Still, blogging (and writing in general) for me now is my mission, you know, among other things.
Like it says in my blog’s About page, although my blog is mostly a personal one, I want to focus on topics close to my heart, namely:
-- Living out the Catholic faith
-- Intentional parenting, especially from a Catholic point of view
-- Homeschooling
-- Encouragement and inspiration for other moms (and dads!), focusing on God’s Amazing Grace, and drawing from my personal reflections
Basically, my blog is my "mission tool," in a way. It’s my way of reaching out to other people to, hopefully, inspire them to live a truly rich life.
Just like me, there are hundreds, if not thousands, of mom bloggers out there who have their own reasons for blogging. Here are some of them:
Patricia Cuyugan (www.mrspcuyugan.com):
"I blog so that I can reach out to other hands-on, work-at-home-moms like me. Being able to share my stories and interact with them through comment exchanges and social media gives me a sense of community, and helps motivate and inspire me."
Em Macanaya-Alcantara (www.touringkitty.wordpress.com):
"I blog because I want to share my passions and advocacies — family, life, music, parenting, among others. I want to tell my stories with the hopes of inspiring more people."
Michelle Mabalod (www.behealthyandwell.com):
"I blog because it is one of the few things I can do without leaving my home. I also blog because I have this dream of promoting healthy Filipino products and social enterprises to the world."
Jayme Gatbonton (www.optiommy.com):
"I blog because it allows me to reach out to other moms. It helps me to fulfill my purpose of inspiring, motivating and empowering them to create a life they love and to engage in purposeful heart work."
Nadia de Leon (www.nanaystrip.wordpress.com):
"I blog because I want to keep track of my mommy journey and inspire others along the way. I also want to interact with fellow moms and gain friends whom I can share the joys of motherhood with."
Dea Mesa (www.thishappylittlehome.blogspot.com):
"I blog to document my journey as a mother. I write with my baby daughter in mind, I want her to read my blog when she's old enough."
Ginger Palma Arboleda (www.mommyginger.com):
"I blog for http://MommyGinger.com, where I have articles about being a first time mom and being a mompreneur, because I would like to inspire those who are thinking of starting their own businesses that they can actually do it simultaneously — be a great mom and a great entrepreneur! I would like to inspire them to make that leap from being an employee to being their own bosses!"
Racquel Guevara (www.beyondbooksandwalls.com):
"I really just wanted to keep a journal of our homeschooling life. Then, moms eventually started asking me questions about homeschooling and so, it became a venue to share what I know and how we do it. It serves as an encouragement! In addition, it's also my way of helping others who would like to know more about homeschooling and are new to the lifestyle.â€
Mariel Uyquiengco (www.thelearningbasket.com):
"I blog to inspire parents to be their children's first and best teacher by being hands-on in their development and education. I advocate for parents to raise their children to be readers, too, so I write about the importance of reading and give tips on how to make books come alive."
Rhiza Sanchez-Oyos (www.chasingdreams.net)
"I started blogging for the selfish reason of wanting to vent my thoughts. A couple of years later, I found out that people started finding my blog and they happened to relate with what I felt, or found inspiration from what I wrote. That realization made me want to blog to make a difference in other people’s lives -- to inspire them to never give up on chasing their dreams, and to encourage them in whatever situation they’re in. And now that I have kids, I become even more conscious of purposely blogging to leave some form of legacy to them."
Many of the aforementioned mom bloggers have become my friends online (and offline for some), and it is wonderful to know that I am in great company -- that there are other moms like me who wish to make a difference, even if it’s just through blogging!
Indeed, just as it says in the photo above (which I borrowed with permission from another mom blogger friend, Martine de Luna of www.daintymom.com): Blogging is a journey… best travelled with sisters.
Are you a blogger too? Why do you blog? I’d love to know. Email me at tina@trulyrichmom.com or send me a Tweet @tinasrodriguez.