“Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart.” — William Wordsworth

Oh Wordsworth, how I miss thee!

As I sit here at the computer typing out a little assignment for the online course I am currently taking, I recall all of the work I put into my blog site. As part of the first module, we were asked to select a method of journaling (is that even a word?) and I opted for the blog.

Most of my colleagues have chosen written journals, which is a legitimate option. In this digital age when most people are going paperless, some take comfort in connecting old-school pen to paper. Heck, studies even show that when you write things down, you are able to recall the content more easily.  A study in 1995 showed how the Japanese used writing to help students remember and recall logographic characters (part of their language). It is no surprise that writing helps, something I encourage my secondary students to do (I tell them repeatedly, “just don’t read over your notes, re-write/summarize them!”). Whether they actually listen to me is another story!

I chose the blog as my preferred method for several reasons:

1. It is a public demonstration of my learning journey – if I am going to reflect on my learning milestones along the journey of this course, I may as well share it and hopefully others will gain some useful knowledge and inspiration. Sharing my passion and inspiring others is a key benefit of blogging and was my original goal for the site
2. I pay for my blog site, so why not use it? – Enough said!
3. I will kill two birds with one stone – Not only will I get to enhance and refine my writing skills, but I will be blogging at the same time. Win-win, right?

Why did I do it? Why did I start a blog that generated very little income? Most importantly, writing for me has always been cathartic – a way to creatively express my thoughts and ideas. Why not help some people while doing it? My original goal was to share easy and healthy recipes, discuss and debate parenting advice and provide some input on the education sector.

Although I haven’t been actively blogging for about a year now, I still look back at my blog wistfully and feel a bit of pride at what I accomplished. I mean, it did land me two paid freelance writing jobs and if I hadn’t started I never would have had the courage to submit to the Huffington Post.

Yes, I have taken somewhat of a hiatus from blogging and photography. You know why? Life just gets in the way! With my return to education and my family demands in full swing (two young girls and all of the extra-curricular activities that come with them!), I unfortunately had to shelve the blog temporarily. That doesn’t mean I have given up forever. Consider it a temporary ‘pause’ in my blogging career.

So whatever your writing journey may be, keep calm and write on!

Check out some of my work for Mabel’s Labels here

Check out some of my work for Beyond the Classroom here