Mojo Mom gets back to essentials
We are on "Spring Break" this week, which I think deserves air quotes when you are The Mom. We are having a nice time visiting family, but after chasing a bored kid around the house for four days, I have to say a that I have almost forgotten what it's like to take a carefree Spring Break trip to a mindless beach destination.
But I am blogging, which feels good because my main message today is to tell you that I am refocusing my energies on the Mojo Mom blog. For several months I had become acutely aware of the constant pull between doing my own work and other people's work.
Mojo Mom represents the essence of what I want to be doing. I want to keep writing about motherhood and culture, working to advance MomsRising's causes, and encouraging mothers to become socially and politically active.
So what had to give? After a lot of soul searching, I decided to wrap up my parenting and technology blog on CNET. I had written (parent.thesis) for ten months, with me as primary author and occasional contributions from my husband Michael. Both of us are passionate writers who tend to write in-depth blog posts. I used to challenge Michael to come up with something short to say, because he'd spend hours on each post. This is unsustainable when you are supposed to write every day.
But in the end it came down to asking whether this was the best use of my talents. Parenting and technology is an important, rapidly evolving topic. I really got into learning about and writing about internet safety issues. Unfortunately, my perspective really didn't mesh with the young, male, Libertarian readership at CNET. I felt like I was constantly swimming against the current of prevailing opinion in that community--and they were not afraid to flame me quite rudely. Once I had made my major points about society and technology, it just was not as rewarding to keep fighting those battles over again with people who were not interested in a real dialogue. For the internet safety issues I do care about, I will find another way to make a contribution.
I started to hear a lot from public relations people who wanted me to review products, which could have become the renewable lifeblood of the blog, but that really felt like doing "someone else's work." So I took the step of committing to the final (parent.thesis) post a the end of March.
After we are back from our trip, and life is back to "normal," which also seems to deserve air quotes these days, I look forward to being back here much more regularly on the Mojo Mom blog.
Lots to come this spring! Thanks for hanging in there with me as I have configured and reconfigured my work life. This may be a good time for each of us to look at our overwhelming schedules and ask ourselves, if something has to give, what can I let go of other than my sleep and sanity?
But I am blogging, which feels good because my main message today is to tell you that I am refocusing my energies on the Mojo Mom blog. For several months I had become acutely aware of the constant pull between doing my own work and other people's work.
Mojo Mom represents the essence of what I want to be doing. I want to keep writing about motherhood and culture, working to advance MomsRising's causes, and encouraging mothers to become socially and politically active.
So what had to give? After a lot of soul searching, I decided to wrap up my parenting and technology blog on CNET. I had written (parent.thesis) for ten months, with me as primary author and occasional contributions from my husband Michael. Both of us are passionate writers who tend to write in-depth blog posts. I used to challenge Michael to come up with something short to say, because he'd spend hours on each post. This is unsustainable when you are supposed to write every day.
But in the end it came down to asking whether this was the best use of my talents. Parenting and technology is an important, rapidly evolving topic. I really got into learning about and writing about internet safety issues. Unfortunately, my perspective really didn't mesh with the young, male, Libertarian readership at CNET. I felt like I was constantly swimming against the current of prevailing opinion in that community--and they were not afraid to flame me quite rudely. Once I had made my major points about society and technology, it just was not as rewarding to keep fighting those battles over again with people who were not interested in a real dialogue. For the internet safety issues I do care about, I will find another way to make a contribution.
I started to hear a lot from public relations people who wanted me to review products, which could have become the renewable lifeblood of the blog, but that really felt like doing "someone else's work." So I took the step of committing to the final (parent.thesis) post a the end of March.
After we are back from our trip, and life is back to "normal," which also seems to deserve air quotes these days, I look forward to being back here much more regularly on the Mojo Mom blog.
Lots to come this spring! Thanks for hanging in there with me as I have configured and reconfigured my work life. This may be a good time for each of us to look at our overwhelming schedules and ask ourselves, if something has to give, what can I let go of other than my sleep and sanity?
Labels: (parent.thesis), CNET blog, getting back to essentials, MomsRising.org
posted by MojoMom at 9:36 PM
7 Comments:
I read the CNET blog and saw yesterday that it was your last day posting over there. I never felt comfortable register to post comments there, but I do want you to know that I read the blog and appreciated your perspective on technology and families.
OH NO!! You mean we're NOT supposed to let go of our sanity?!!! :-)
Your decision (as always) sets a good example for the rest of us. Half the battle is deciding what it is that you are trying to accomplish and identifying the vehicle to do that. (That's what I hear, anyway!) Looks like you've done that. Good for you.
I hear what you're saying. I've already given up some things and need to cut back on some others to do what I know I should be doing. Glad I'm not the only one!
I am glad to read you will be spending more time writing on mojomom. I love reading your posts during my "me" time. Good for you, also, for deciding to say no to something.
Yippee. This is the best news I was the last to hear all week!
Glad to hear you'll be back here more often. Your blog here is largely responsible for my introduction to the supportive online communities surrounding the blogosphere, as well as giving me quite a bit to think about. Although I'm not around frequently with newborn and two older boys to attend to, I'll be glad to catch up when I come by.
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