my rant on a little slice of utopia...

When you have a moment pop over to  Making time and have a look at Heather's post on ""craft blogs as a domestic fantasy." Then read the comments! Interesting reading indeed.
Craft mafia, ouch!

oh. oh. oh.
I'm a SAHM
I had an 'arts/design related career 'before choosing to stay at home.

Two big black crosses there already!

(Oh, and did I mention that I am a domestic goddess, with two perfect children,a house that runs like a finely tuned machine ,a dream marriage and I always find just a little time for myself to just be me. Hey,want to be my best friend??????)

My life is not picture perfect nor would I want it to be. I like to share some parts of my life through my blog - just not the "messy parts". I mean, we all know that they are there but do you really want to hear about the gritty details, those tissues in the black wash type days?
And I don't want to talk about them! Apart from the ones that make for a bit of a laugh or explain why something has turned out the way it has, I would rather as Eireann so succinctly put it, keep the "dignity of having my separate, ‘real’ life".

My blog is about my art/craft and that is inextricably linked with my life. Whatever is happening there, the good, the bad and the ugly, is generally is reflected in my work or sometimes in the lack of it!

I have no issues with the so called"popular blogs" - they are popular for a reason and it's not because they are giving away large sums of money.I don't believe for one moment that they have perfect lives and I'm sure that most of them would laugh at the idea that others imagine they do.
It was suggested ,more than once in the comment section of Heather's post,that the women behind these blogs must only be able to create all the things they do by having 'someone" to help out or by putting the kids in front of the TV for hours. Does it seem more reasonable to think that maybe,,just maybe they might do it the same way the rest of us do- in snatched moments while the baby is asleep or while waiting in the car at kindy pick up time. Then there are the wee hours when everyone else is asleep and at last you have a few hours to yourself...bliss! Of course you pay for it the next day, but hey, you got that new crocheted golf club cover finished! ( no offence to those of you who make golf club covers....they just make me laugh!)

Where do they find the time, you ask? Answer: like us,wherever they can. (Oh but having a maid really does make that little bit of a difference.Must ask D about getting me one of those...surely not too much to ask, is it?)

I love to read other craft blogs for inspiration . It is also a way for me to interact with other like minded people out in the world that I would otherwise not have access to.I get support,encouragement and feedback on my work,that I find invaluable. Let's face it, it's good to know that someone else besides your family, thinks that your two headed doll is a marvel. (And honey, believe me it is!)

I have met many amazing people since I started blogging, some whom I now proudly and happily refer to as friends.Lucky me! If I stop blogging tomorrow I will still keep in contact with them.Yes, there is a competitive undercurrent in the craft blog world - but that's just part of human nature. I found the few mother's group meetings that I went to far more competitive than the blog world!

Anyway that's my two cents worth on the topic!
Your blog, do what you want! And if someone else doesn't like it, do you really give a toss? ( lovely expression that one........)

Enjoy the long weekend.....

Comments

[Jo]

And that would be why I am commenting on your brilliant post at approx. 11.47 pm while the rest of my family sleeps and after I have spent the past three hours sewing on buttons. I agree, who wants to read about your "crappy" life when we all have a "crappy" life of our own? Well, you know what I mean. I'm off to read that post now ....

[sueb]

Honestly I read blogs to see whose working on what and for a little inspiration and connection to the craft/art world. I work in my studio by myself all day so blogging gives me a chance to interact with and get feedback from other like minded people who enjoy creating and working with their hands. I don't need to know all the nitty gritty details of their lives, I'm just interested in what's going on in their studios. I stopped reading some blogs because the personal info posts were getting way too personal for me. It would never occur to me to share the personal details of my life on my blog - there's no way to know whose reading it, why they want it and what they'll do with it. I think people forget that not only do the nice normal people in the world read their blogs but all the not so nice and not so well adjusted ones do too and sharing too much is not a good idea. I'll never understand why people think it's ok to post pictures of their kids and family on a blog that can be read by anyone, anywhere!

[Regina]

Excellent post!!! You really hit it right on the nail. Personally, I blog for the same reasons you do- the friends, encouragment, inspiration and support. If you get all bunged up about the popular blogs, then what fun is that? Life's too short!!

[julie]

Very good post..i also dont like airing my dirty washing online..i agree with everything yousaid and so appreciate the great people ive met through the blog(like you!!)
Im going to read to the said post now. xxx

[Sarah]

I came across that Making Time post before I even started blogging and I've thought about it frequently since reading it and since I began my blog. I found the assumptions and assertions that some people made in comments to that post staggering and though nothing like that, there are some assumptions being made here too. Who wants to read or write about the messy bits? Me, maybe, or someone else.

To me the point really isn't about content, it's about ownership. First and foremost, my blog is my own. Your blogs are your (collective) own. The people who choose to read them are simply guests. We all have choices. I choose what I want my blog to be. The people who visit choose whether they're interested in what I've made it. Readers can requst things...resources, patterns, even 'messy bits'...but they don't have the right to demand them and they don't have the right to blame me if I can't or won't meet their requests or if the image that I portray or, more accurately, they perceive, makes them feel sad or inferior or whatever (even happy). I'm responsible for what I write, the readers are responsible for how they feel about what I've writen and whether they want to continue reading what I have to say. It's really that simple.

To thine own self be true...

[Tiel S-K]

Here here. I just posted my 2 bobs worth (bobs. now isn't that an old word?) over at the site. Tall poppy syndrome in a big way!

thanks M.