Be Yourself: Great Advice that's Too Easy to Ignore

I'm sure you've all noticed my absence from the blogosphere this year. So far in 2015, I've only published 4 blog posts, and three of those were recipes. And this after posting a set schedule for myself in October that I vowed to keep. Ooops!

I'd like to be able to say that life has simply kept me far too busy for blogging, but the honest truth is that I'm just a little rebellious. Common blogging wisdom says that you MUST post regularly, on a set schedule, or your audience won't know when and where to find you. If you have a split focus to your blog (as I do here, with book promotions, recipes and pondering on life's lessons), you MUST have a clear rotation to space the various aspects evenly, or you run the risk of losing a major part of your audience. This all makes perfect sense.

But I'm the girl who was always a full semester behind on her reading, all through college, because I couldn't bring myself to read the books that were assigned ... just because "you can't tell me what to do!" Even though I really wanted to read the books on the required reading lists, I balked as soon as they were "required." And that's what I've been doing here. By setting a schedule for what I can blog about and when, I turned my fun "just for me" blog into "work." And suddenly, I've been stomping my foot and crossing my arms and loudly declaring "You can't tell me what to do!!"

When I was in high school, I went to a Youth Conference where the keynote speaker (Michael Wilcox) told us not to get discouraged. "You can be the best carrot in the market, but if people are shopping for lettuce, they're not going to pick you. Just be patient. Eventually, someone will come looking for carrots, and they'll be happy you're there."

So as of today, I'm reclaiming my blog. I'm going to be the best darn carrot there is, and hopefully you'll all stick with me. (After all, we all need a healthy dose of beta carotene in our lives, right?)

If I have a recipe or book rave or life lesson that I want to share, I will share it ... even if I already posted one this week. And if I don't have one I'm excited about, I'll wait until I do, even if it's been three weeks. I promise, when I post something new, I'll share the links via twitter, facebook, tumblr, etc., so you'll be able to find me. But I started this blog to remind myself of the joy found in life's little trials ... and it's time I bring the joy back to the blog.

Love you all!!