100 days of daily blogging

Today is the 100th day in a row that I’ve published something on this blog!

I know, right? 🙂

I’ve been blogging with WordPress since about 2006, when I started my wine blog, Wine Scamp. Then I got pregnant and stopped blogging. Then I started again, and got pregnant again and stopped blogging. Except that’s also when I got a job working on the WordPress open source project full time. I was hired to help community organizers make great community events, and have had a blast working with amazing people at Automattic and throughout the WordPress community since 2011.

In late 2014, my friend and colleague Jen Mylo and I wanted to try organizing events for WordPress bloggers, since we saw a need in the community for events that brought together those who use the software (as opposed to those who build the software). We created the Press Publish conference brand/series (we really need to update that page; no new events are forthcoming right now) and organized two pilot events to try out our idea. It was an intense 3-4 months, but lots of fun too.

Organizing a conference for bloggers was very inspirational. I like expressive people. I’m expressive, and I like people who have something to say. I was originally inspired to work for Automattic because of the WordPress mission to democratize publishing, which in my mind means that we’re giving a platform, a megaphone, to anyone with a message. I might not agree with the message, but I do so love the idea of making sure everyone has a voice.

Talking to all these bloggers awakened my hunger to blog. That said, I’m a busy person! I have two kids under 7, a full-time job at Automattic and a husband who also works full-time for an architectural firm. I wanted to blog, but I didn’t know how I was going to fit all that lovely self-expression into my life. Or what I’d be saying. 🙂

That said, I posted to Facebook or Twitter nearly every day (mostly Facebook). Cute pictures of the kids, funny things they said, insights (complaints) about life as a full-time-working-for-an-employer mom of two in these modern times. So I figured: what if I just post all that stuff on my blog instead?

And here you see the results! 🙂 I use the WordPress iOS app every single day: to post, check my stats, approve comments (boy I love comments), see who’s “liking” my posts, etc. I will admit that my posts come out looking a wee bit funny on Facebook aand Twitter, but I will say that the actual experience of putting my thoughts, photos, and feelings out there is about the same whether someone is reading or not. Expressing myself has felt good for the past 100 days. I think I’ll go for 100 more!