Making It Happen – I’m a Speaker Finalist For Bloggy Boot Camp!

July 27, 2011 by ·

Last week I tortured myself making a video for something I really want. It paid off! I’m a finalist for a speaker spot at a SITS Bloggy Boot Camp.

I’m DYING of excitement. (You can see my video submission below.)

I really want to do this – not so much to talk about postpartum depression (though that would obviously be part of my story) but to talk to other bloggers about how blogging, to me, is so much more than words on a page. It’s about sharing what is unique to you – whatever that is, and each one of us has something – and using that to give others something. A laugh. Support. A new idea. A bit of hope. A connection to someone they’d otherwise not have met. And how doing that makes their life, and yours in return, something more.

I know I’d be a good speaker (and I promise not to tell the gorilla joke). Help me get there? Visit the site and vote for me (which you can do once per day – please, please – until Aug. 3).

Did I mention I will love you forever if you do?

Filed Under: Happy things · Tagged With: , ,

World Moms Blog Post: On Maternity Leave

July 13, 2011 by ·

My first post is up on World Moms Blog and it’s about maternity leave in Canada. Yes, we get a full year and while I won’t complain – because I believe everyone should get that opportunity and it’s good for both mother and babe – at times it felt too long for me.

C’mon over and share your thoughts!

Filed Under: Writing · Tagged With: ,

Uncool

June 23, 2011 by ·

You know what I love about blogging? It’s making me rich. Not in money – the currency is love, friendship, and community.

Some of you have already rolled your eyes and closed this tab. The rest of you know what I’m talking about.

My life has been enriched since I started blogging. Here, it doesn’t matter who I am. It doesn’t matter what I do, or what kind of a car I drive or how pretty I am. What matters is what I share.

Everyone feels uncool sometimes. Yes, everyone. Think of the most popular girl in high school (was that you?) and I guarantee she was insecure about something. Or maybe a lot of things. Perhaps even a lot of the time.

Ironically, blogging can sometimes make us feel especially uncool. We succumb, at times, and measure our worth in visits, clicks, comments and re-tweets. We follow our Google Friend Connect numbers like they’re our bank accounts – waiting, begging, praying for them to go up. We want people to “like” us, on Facebook, but in general as well.

It’s the curse of the blogger and I’ve seen many post about their blogging insecurities, only to be assured that, yes, their blogs are great. Their writing is great. They are great. Which is great. Sometimes it’s nice to be reminded of these things by someone other than your mother.

Coincidentally, three of the leaders in my PPD community have recently posted about popularity in blogging. Lauren from My Postpartum Voice wrote about her Klout score. Katherine from Postpartum Progress and Yael from PPD to Joy both wrote about popularity as a result of the Circle of Moms contest for the top 25 mental health blogs. (If you read Yael’s post, you’ll see where the inspiration for this post came from.)

I think Klout is probably bunk, but when people award me Klout points I appreciate it, not because it affects my score, which I care nothing about, but because I take it as a compliment.

I was nominated in that Circle of Moms contest – another compliment – and ended up at number 10. I’m grateful for what it will do to raise awareness about postpartum depression, but I have no illusions about what it means for me – it was a contest that allowed a vote a day, which is hardly a valid measure of the top anything. Some of the ones that came in below me are more established, more authoritative, more lots-of-things blogs.

So no, those things don’t mean I’m cool. I’m not cool. In high school I wasn’t popular but I wasn’t an outcast either. I was just me, and I’m glad of that now.

Now I don’t worry (very much) about being cool. I don’t fuss about what I wear around my more fashionable friends. I don’t look at the moms who seem put together and totally with it and feel inadequate, because I know they have bad days just like the rest of us. My taste in music probably resembles a 16-year-old girl’s more than a 36-year-old mom’s, but I don’t care. It makes me happy.

Instead of worrying about whether I’m cool, I try to relish the relationships I have. What matters to me is that people like you show me that what I share with others matters.

“The only true currency in this bankrupt world is what you share with someone else when you’re uncool.” – Lester Bangs in Almost Famous

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Hello, Inspiration – Inaugural Edition

May 1, 2011 by ·

I’m normally the sort of person who is inspired by all kinds of things. Music, images or beautiful photos, but particularly words and ideas. Not ideas like, “Hey, skinny jeans would be fabulous!” More like this sort of thing:

what-makes-you-come-alive

Lately there have been times when I don’t see the light or the magic or the possibility in anything. This is not a feeling I enjoy. So I’m going to take action. I’m going to start noticing things. I’m going to start looking for things. Some of these things will be writing I appreciate or a beautiful view that makes me pause and think about what’s going on outside my own head.

I’m going to start something new and share some of these things every Sunday. Since my current journey is Farewell, Stranger I’m going to call this new weekly series Hello, Inspiration.

So here are some things that have inspired me this week:

I discovered Good Enough is the New Perfect, and liked it so much I submitted my own story. Since I have issues with trying to be perfect, the idea of opening up the dialogue on how working moms (and any moms, I’d argue) can redefine success by specifically tackling the idea of perfection is fabulous. (I really want a t-shirt but, oy vey, the shipping to Canada is absurd. They must transport it on the back of an endangered species or something.)

***

A few weeks ago I started browsing around Pinterest again after abandoning my sad little boards for a while. I found one cool thing and then another and ended up creating a board of things that inspire me. You might, er, notice a theme (for the moment anyway).

***

Another thing I’ve recently discovered is Velvet Verbosity. Really interesting site from a writing perspective, including the 100 Word Challenge.

***

So that’s a few things for starters. What has inspired you recently?

Filed Under: Postpartum depression · Tagged With:

A-Z and Back to Bed*

April 25, 2011 by ·

So I’m trolling around the Interwebs today and I come across this meme. I normally don’t do memes, but I kind of like this one. (*Note that you have to be Canadian for the title to rhyme, so just humour me and read it that way.)

To give credit where credit is due, I stole this from Just Plain Jayne who stole it from The Sweetest who found it at Mean Girl Garage. She stole it from Lex at Lex in the City who stole it from Jen O. from My Tornado Alley who stole it from Bored Mommy who found it at… Oh, forget it. I love following a trail but I suspect this one could go on forever.

A. Age: I always have to think when people ask me this question. I’m going to go with 36. I think.

B. Bed size: King, but lately I mostly sleep in a double in my sanctuary room.

C. Chore you dislike: Cleaning tubs and showers. Floors. Except vacuuming. I love vacuuming.

D. Dogs: We have a 5 year old Wheaten Terrier named Finley. He’s totally a daddy’s dog, but sometimes he comes and cuddles with me. Puppy therapy is the best.

E. Essential start to your day: Brushing my teeth and checking email and Twitter, which I now do before eating breakfast. Most unusual.

Alphabet on Sand by Stephen Rees

F. Favorite color: Used to be blue, but now it’s red. A really deep red.

G. Gold or silver: White gold. Or silver. But I don’t do yellow gold.

H. Height: 5’9”, most of which is in my legs making it a giant pain to find pants that are long enough.

I. Instruments you play(ed): I took piano and flute lessons when I was younger and then I think my mom accepted that being musical is not one of my many talents. <sarcasm> I think I also played the recorder for a bit. Oh, and I played the triangle for a school concert once. That was truly a high point in my musical career.

J. Job title: Internal communications director. Mama.

K. Kids: One feisty almost-three-year-old. There’s another one lurking in the metaphorical wings if I can ever kick this PPD crap.

L. Live: Is this “live” as in “live life”? Or “live” as in “Live from New York, it’s Saturday Night!” Either way, I like to live life when I’m not battling something that makes me not want to. And I’m not really big on live shows. Plays, yes. Concerts, not so much.

M. Mom’s name: Mom. Mama. Momita. Grandma (which used to be Gandala).

N. Nicknames: Robs. Bobbin. Mama. Daddy. (Sometimes he gets confused.)

O. Overnight hospital stays: Two. Appendix when I was about 11. C-section when C was born. How come I get all the horrible abdominal stuff?

P. Pet peeves: People who chew with their mouth open. People who pay no attention to anyone around them and stop suddenly right in front of you. People who hit “reply all” to emails when it’s really not warranted.

Q. Quote from a movie: “Carpe diem. Seize the day, boys. Make your lives extraordinary.” – Dead Poets Society

R. Righty or Lefty: Righty. Except when I’m shuffling cards.

S. Siblings: Brother and 2 sisters. I’m the oldest. 2 half sibs also (older than I).

T. Time you wake up: Whatever time the toddler tells me to wake up. Except lately because I’m all doped up on sedatives and am finding it incredibly easy to sleep until past noon. And then want to go to sleep some more.

U. Underwear: I do wear them, but my son’s insistence on going commando makes me wonder if underwear is overrated.

V. Vegetables you don’t like: Um. Hmm. I like most of them so let’s go with the old standby: Brussels sprouts.

W. What makes you run late: The kid. Apathy. Losing my car keys. Always forgetting that traffic on a certain part of my route is ridiculous and there’s nothing I can do about it because I don’t own a car that can drive over all the others.

X. X-rays you’ve had: Teeth. Hands. Broken toes. I’m sure there are others… I tend to be clumsy.

Y. Yummy food you make: Good curries. Pretty good chili. I’d love to make more soup (yum) but my husband doesn’t eat soup. I know. He’s a freak.

Z. Zoo Animal Favorites: Giraffes. When I saw the petite lap giraffes and realized they weren’t real, a part of me died.

Filed Under: Happy things · Tagged With: ,
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