What should I give up for Lent?
This year for Lent I thought long and hard about what to give up. Midnight snacking? *Jiggles belly fat* Yeah... that would probably be good. Television? Yeah, that would probably be a good choice too.
But then I heard a bloggy friend saying that she was giving up social media and I thought... oooh, now we're onto something.
On wanting to be a kid blogger... and that pesky thief named Comparison
Last January I participated in something called #riskrejection, where a couple of bloggers and I shared how we were daring to take scary risks even if it meant getting rejected by others. That weekly challenge has now become a monthly one. (If you'd like to participate in this month's, you can link your risks here.)
For my first risk, I shared my (now not-so-secret) desire to somehow make a career as a kids' craft blogger. Since then, I dove into the huge social media ocean and
- reorganized the kid craft section of my Pinterest page
- pumped up my Instagram feed
- uploaded more posts onto Facebook
- started reading up on SEO.... (blech)
- joined two blogging support groups (Kid Blogger Network and Rockin' Art Moms.)
Yurp. It's been great and I've learned a lot... but it's also been pretty overwhelming.
Both groups are made up of super talented, super hardworking, super social media saavy moms and I am in awe of them...and honestly, supremely intimidated by them.
I know I shouldn't compare, but it's hard not to. Every time I look at my newsfeed or check my email I see how hard they've been working, how much they've created, and how many shares or likes their posts received... and I get stressed out.
Blogging definitely becomes less fun when those pesky "What ifs" "Maybe I shoulds" or "Why am I nots" pop into my head.
Stepping back from Facebook and Page views
So for this month, I'm stepping back from social media, specifically Facebook. I'm trying not to check every feed, comment, like, or update... and I'm also really trying hard to not worry about stats or pageviews.
It's going to be a battle till Easter, but boundaries are good right?
#2redfruitloops
Instead of obsessing, I'm going to try trusting that God somehow has a plan and a place for all of us... and I'm going to do something that makes me happy.... draw red fruit loop doodles! I love seeing all the artists on Instagram who doodle scenes around real objects. So I've challenged myself to draw doodles that include 2 red fruit loops in them. (Why red fruit loops? Because they're yummy and they make me happy.) So if you want to follow my red fruit loop journey, you can just find it on Instagram using #2redfruitloops.
Here's my first doodle:
(I feel like that's me... always trying to see what the future holds...)
Whoa. I've been reading for an hour... just how long is this post anyway?
Way too long, apparently. Wow. You're still here? High five. I'm sorry for this long, long personal post, but I needed to take this risk, share what was on my heart, and let everything out.
Let's be brave and hopeful together friends, shall we?