I titled this post "Maintenance Phase", which doesn't have anything to do with the podcast (although I am a fan.) It's become clear that this the life phase I am currently in. Keeping things moving - getting kids to school, getting myself to work, keeping the house clean and staying on top of chores - is the focus of my days. The weather is not helping, with freezing temperatures and windy days keeping us inside. We've had a few glimpses of Spring, but we're not quite there yet.
It's been awhile, so here are some photos from the past few months. You can still see leaves on the trees in many of these, which is a time I have already forgotten existed.
Flower season has now started with hundreds of seedlings being sewn and tended to. It's not long now before I start preparing the garden and planting out. My flower subscription sales have been much lower than normal this year, something I'm hearing from other flower sellers as well. Everything is expensive these days and I understand that fun purchases, like flowers, are the first to go. I also decided to take a 6-week break in the middle of the summer so that's also going to impact sales. Luckily I am not financially dependent on this business at all, but I know other growers are, so please support your local flower farm, even if it's just one bouquet during the season! (Buying locally is now more important than ever, no matter your location.)
I have been struggling with my "why" regarding this blog for awhile. Posting takes time and effort, and I'm already a regular journaler so I don't necessarily need to record my life in this way. If you are a blogger, I'd love to hear what keeps you going. Although I have had significant breaks, I have been blogging for twenty-one years. But, the state of the world is not great right now, and I like the idea of documenting the beauty that still exists.
In other news, the Women's Prize for Fiction longlist dropped this week! I've already read three books on the list (The Safekeep, All Fours, and The Ministry of Time), and plan to read the full longlist eventually. I started this week with Broken Seeds, the only book I don't have to wait in a lengthy hold line for. I look forward to discussing these with those of you who are also reading along this year.
EIGHT O'CLOCK AT NIGHT. That's bedtime.
ReplyDeleteSome seasons in life are what I used to term Dory Seasons, as in just keep swimming. I remember years that felt like one of those little exercise pools, where the water comes at you and you swim, but you aren't going anywhere. Like a treadmill, I guess. I could have saved myself the time it took to type that and just wrote treadmill, but well. As for your question, why do I blog? Well I love writing for public consumption, apparently I need to tell everyone details about my life. But I like the community/ commenting aspect of it. So I guess it's a) I like writing, b) I like people reading my writing, c) I like reading other people's blogs and connecting in that way.
Those are great reasons to blog! I am definitely in a Dory season, swimming (or treadmilling along). It gets pretty boring at times, but at least warmer weather is coming!
DeleteI write every day, but I blog (sporadically) because it helps me sift through and sort out what I think about this chaotic timeline we're all experiencing; I appreciate the community of voices (at least in this platform) who are sane and not rabid for clicks and likes and trolls. And finally, this is a record of who I am for my family.
ReplyDeleteGreat reasons! Blogs are SO much more sane than anything on social media, that's for sure.
DeleteIf it's going to be cold, I WANT SNOW. I don't want a brown and grey landscape. This is controversial, but spring is my least favorite season because it's terrible. It's muddy, the trees are leaf-less, the weather changes every hour, and it can snow, rain, or wintry mix at any time. I just...can we skip ahead to summer? That is all.
ReplyDeleteI'm with Nicole that I blog mostly for the community aspect. I like to learn about other people and how they feel about DST or what mascara I should use or what to do about the state of the American politic. I like that I've made honest-to-goodness friends through my blog and that's hard to do as an adult. I like that it's a daily reminder that there are good people in the world doing good things to leave this world a better place for the next generation of humans.
But, also, I just like a place where I can complain about HOW WINTER IS NEVERENDING.
I also enjoy knowing that there are normal, sane people in the world, particularly since everyone is a troll on social media these days. I still think Winter is the worst season because at least in Spring you get a little more light and warmth, even it is muddy and sticky. I'm told there are places that are warm year round, that you can just, move to, but how does anyone actually do that? Maybe if you have no responsibilities?
DeleteHere's my response :) I hope you keep blogging! https://www.matthewgallaway.com/2025/03/03082025.html
ReplyDeleteOh wow, a whole post! Thanks for giving this so much thought and I'm happy to have you as a reader :)
DeleteI've not been blogging nearly as long as you have Sarah but I do love the community I have found. I don't use ant other platforms so treasure the friends I have made. Please stay.
ReplyDeleteAw, thanks! It really has been a great platform to follow the lives of people all over the world. Pretty cool.
DeleteHello! A link on Posie Gets Cozy brought me to you today. I am thankful to find your recent post and look forward to scrolling back to read previous entries. Most of the bloggers I follow are rarely posting these days and I'm sure there are a million reasons why. Admittedly, over the years I drifted to social media surfing. It seemed like good fun for a while. Now I'm looking for blogs to read, even if it is "new to me" content. Here's to the blogger community for sharing their thoughts, photos, ideas, and art.
ReplyDeleteThank you for visiting! Creating a blog post (or reading one) is definitely more work than scrolling through photos on Instagram or other social media. With blogging there is so much more of a personal connection.
Delete8pm start times are THE WORST. When I'm working on a show we have 7pm or 7:30pm. Nobody likes the 7:30pm shows. The only time I like 7:30p shows is when it means the show ends late enough that we can catch the late night happy hour at the oyster place. (the 7pm show usually ends too early for it to be worth going.)
ReplyDeleteI started a blog in 2020 because I found myself leaving very looooooong comments on other blogs and I realized that I had enough opinions on some things that I should maybe find my own platform. I also feel like I get so much joy out of reading other people's blogs that maybe my way of giving back/contributing/connecting to the community was to start my own blog. It does take a lot of time for me to write a post, but it find it is more satisfying than posting on other forums/social media platforms.
Honestly at this point I'm sticking to the 3pm shows... I'm too old to be out past 10, ha! Blogging is definitely more thoughtful and in-depth than other platforms, I feel like I really get to know someone through their blog.
Delete/waves I'm a real person who's been reading your blog for a couple years now and have never commented. I've blogged in some way since my teens so about 20 years for me too. Reading other people's slices of life, especially longform, has been something that's not just something I love doing but part of the rhythm of my life. I've been waiting for social media to shift from micro-everything back to blogging, but with the corporatism that grips any venue now, I think places like Substack are filling the gap in a way that feels seedy (at least to me).
ReplyDeleteThat being said, it still feels like being part of a community even as a silent reader who should comment more often. :)
It's so fun to get a comment from someone who has never commented before! I honestly have no idea how many people read this blog because of all the bots that show up in my analytics and skew the numbers. Seeing other people's lives is so interesting, and it's really only through blogging that we can experience this. I don't even know how my friends spend a typical day so it's fun to learn about how others are spending their time all over the world.
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