Who I am and Why I’m Here

Hello! Happy New Year!

One of my objectives in 2016 is to improve my blog by posting more often, posting more interesting content and reaching more people. I also want to take the time to read other people’s blogs and make some blog buddies. (If that’s a thing… if not, I’m going to make it a thing.)

I recently saw that WordPress was offering a Blogging 101 course, so I jumped at the chance to join it. Even though I have been blogging here for over two years, there’s always room for improvement.

My first assignment on Blogging 101 is to write a “Who I am and why I’m here” post. It’s funny because lately I’ve been thinking that my reasons for blogging have morphed a bit since I first started on WordPress. I’m thinking about revamping the whole blog to make it more appealing to a wider audience.

Who I Am

I am a 30-something year old woman who has always had an itch to write. Thanks to an encouraging first and second-grade teacher, I began writing “books” at a very young age. I wrote about going on a whale watch with my parents. I wrote about our whole family being sick with the flu (complete with illustrations of each one of us with our tongues hanging out of our mouths). I need to do a post about those books. Noted.

When I was 10, I got my first diary for Christmas and soon began chronicling my life. This habit continues with me to this day, although I definitely don’t write as often as I used to. I make up for it by blogging and sharing my thoughts with whoever wants to read them.

I’m also really into art. Basically I like to create stuff, one way or another.

Aside from the fact that I like to write/create, I happen to have a rare genetic disorder called ectrodactyly ectodermal dysplasia clefting syndrome, or EEC Syndrome. You can read about what it entails in About EEC Chick and What is EEC?

Why I’m Here

I started this blog in 2013 because I was inspired to create a personal account of my life with EEC. I had some childhood situations I was eager to share and process through writing. I wanted to be an example of someone who grew up with EEC and lived to tell about it. I wanted kids with EEC to be able to read my blog and realize that someone else had been through what they’re going through. Etc. Etc.

I did all that and it was pretty great. Sharing long bottled-up stories, like the emotionally scarring day at the water park, or the middle school angst related to not fitting in was actually therapeutic for me. It was almost like a burden had been lifted by sharing those deeply emotional stories.

I also got great feedback from parents with kids with EEC. One mom even printed out my blog posts so her son could read them! It was so cool to hear that. Probably the coolest thing that happened thanks to the blog was meeting the Claire family. They found my blog while researching EEC, which their unborn son had been diagnosed with in utero.

After I wrote all the big things about EEC, I started writing more about my normal life. In 2015, especially, I began writing about things like trips I took, projects I was working on and musings about life. I’m afraid that because of this I may have lost some of my earlier readers. Yet I did gain new readers with the travel blog aspect.

So that’s where I’m at right now… considering whether I should modify the theme of the blog, or start a whole new blog where I can focus more on creative writing and art… I just don’t know at this point. So bear with me please, as I figure it out!

This was a huge amount of detail for “Who I am and why I’m here”, but I guess it’s complicated!