Should I stop blogging?

I was going to call this post 'I've lost my blogging mojo', only I thought I'd better google 'mojo' to find out its exact definition, and I'm glad I did, because mojo doesn't mean what I thought it did at all, even though I can use the word in a sentence perfectly well. Phew. So that's good.

Those of you who follow A Peaceful Day on Facebook (If you would like to, the link is here, and I'd be super excited if you would), will know that I've been considering whether it might be time to give up writing my blog.

Although I have some really dear, sweet, loyal commenters, it seems that the once vibrant conversation has been dwindling, and that makes me sad. I don't seem to have the energy or inclination to get out there and trawl the net for new followers when I don't have time to visit my bloggy pals as it is. My FB pals say that I should just write for myself, but I'm afraid I really don't write for me - I try and write for you.

I first started my blog because I thought I had something worthwhile to contribute. I am passionate about many things, and I thought that I might be able to pass that enthusiasm on to others. I love Ambleside Online, and I felt that my Australianised version might help other Aussies who were considering using it for their kiddos and who didn't want to reinvent the wheel and make it all fit together. I adore Australian Living Books - children's and adult's, old and recent - and I wanted to be able to make recommendations, without telling other people what they should or shouldn't read. (Okay, I love all books, regardless of their country of origin, I admit it.) I love chatting about travel and geography and history and food and gardens and homemaking and crochet and knitting and raising my covenant child in the Reformed faith, and I thought that this might make my blog interesting to some.

And so, on 4th September 2008, I wrote my first post. My first commenter was the wonderful Michelle, from Homeschooling Downunder a month or so later. I can still remember how excited I was when I read her encouraging remarks. I think that those early posts - the ones nobody read - were amongst my best. I was full of passion and enthusiasm, and I think it shows.

After that I settled into a kind of rhythm of blogging most days. It was a commitment, but one that I felt really motivated to put the effort into. I came to know some wonderful people, many who I now count as my dear friends, and I soon realised how much I had to learn about homeschooling, and what a wonderful resource the homeschool blogging community really was. They were my glory days, really.

When the flood came in January 2011, everything ground to a standstill. For a year I worked full time reestablishing our family business as well as educating Jemimah. Blogging dwindled to twice a week if I was lucky, mostly fitted in late as night, and our damaged computer made visiting other blogs really difficult. My cameras were stolen and I could no longer take decent photographs. I could no longer talk about my lovely home or our garden, or cooking or decorating or any of that yummily delicious stuff because...well... I just can't do that stuff any more until we get our home repaired, and that's gunna take time. Lots of time. It is little wonder that my followers began looking for scintillating content somewhere other than here. Hey, I understand, I really do.

I also get that it's not all about me. Lots of people that I call my friends no longer blog, and I miss them. I go down the lists in my sidebars, and a considerable number of the blogs that I used to read regularly haven't been updated in months. It's sad, and I really hate losing contact with some of those girls.

So anyhow, during the last week or so I've been prayerfully pondering my options. And just today I've decided that I think I'll keep blogging a while longer.

There are three things that helped me decide. One was a visit to the CMand Friends - ANZ Yahoo Group, where I discovered a group of ladies I don't know talking about A Peaceful Day's Australianised AO curriculum. That made me feel much better to know that people were actually using what I was doing. Secondly, my dear friend, Chef Penny from Our Crazy Adventures in autismland mentioned that she was going to use AO for her lovely daughter partly because it had worked for me. Imagine my name uttered in the same sentence as Tammy Glaser. Really! Finally I received a lovely email from my now-real-life-but-formerly-bloggy-pal Sarah. Sarah has always been one of my greatest encouragers, and the words she wrote, apart from making me cry, helped me to come to the decision that I like what I do, and that I'd really miss blogging if I stopped. I like having this secret life that my local friends don't know about, and I really like helping others, and I really love my cyberspace friends.

Which brings me to the tentative name I mentioned for this post. I seem to be having a bit of a problem with angoisse de la page blanche - a massive case of writer's block. It was the fact that I've spent too many hours staring at a blank screen that made me consider quitting blogging in the first place.

Help me girls! If you think it is worthwhile me continuing to blog, then what would you like me to write about? What erudite pearls of wisdom would you like me to impart?

Next post I'm going to tell how Jemimah and came to be watching Mickey Mouse cartoons tonight during our Mummy-Daughter film night, but you'll already know that if you've liked our page on Facebook anyhow. After that, then who knows. Any ideas?

Thank you to those of you who do make the time to leave an encouraging comment. It helps a lot. Ganeida, Ruby, Sarah, Rosemary, Mel, Erin, Therese, Jo, Rebecca...okay,I'm going to stop now while there are still lots of names to go in case I hurt somebody...you're all wonderful. I so appreciate you all. Thanks.