My audience of three

Until recently I used to worry about why people were no longer reading my blog posts. I know this from my blog stats delivered each month to my inbox. They tell me I have a regular audience of 3, which I can pretty much guarantee are my mum, my sister and my best friend. Like I said, until recently these stats would have caused me some agony over why, what to do, etc, etc.

2010 has become my year of reflection, not by my choosing, but nonetheless many insights have been gained and lessons learned. One of these insights has been that really I had lost sight of my reasons for blogging and in turn my blogging audience. When I started blogging several years ago it was to provide regular stories about my crafty dalliances and our lives in Melbourne. My audience was then 3, yes those same three who I no longer could share regular physical get togethers as they all reside in Adelaide. Over time I, somewhat surprisingly, gained other readers and an a new online community open upped to me. The excitement of finding like minded people encouraged me to blog more, to read more blogs, to join this community. However, at the same time I was battling post natal depression and as has now become apparent blogging became a way to hide from my daily struggles. Spending much of my time online became not quite an obsession but a habit.

As part of my recovery from PND I began to back away from my online world. My real world needed my attention, my involvement. It has taken a long time to regain a balance between my real and my online communities. It has taken a toll on some of my personal relationships. A toll that I now look on with sadness and bewilderment. Reflection has felt like I have had my blinkers and rose colored glasses removed. It felt brutal to start with but as sometimes can be the case, a good dose of reality has become strangely liberating. So now I feel I can blog with more freedom again, as I am aware that these posts are really for an audience of 3. But for those of you that also drop by from time to time, I heartily thank you for providing some bonus online hugs!

Until the next post, x Sam

An absence in photos

Poor little blog, so neglected. A short documentary of what we have been doing instead;

birthdays, parties & costume making

enjoying family outings

book week (that's Selby the Talking Dog by the way)

walking the real dog

arranging playdates

doodling

And there was a trip to Japan, an increase in work hours, random knitting & crochet, a return to reading books, twittering, indulging myself with an iPad and upheaval to our family routine. *sigh* life really does get in the way sometimes.