02 April 2013

Tell Me How It Changed You

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I have been exploring around some blog link up parties, visiting new blogs and reading new stories. Reading a variety of new blogs has taught me something about what I love about the blogs I have continued to follow for years now.

After reading a few different blogs, I really wanted to feel invested, I wanted to keep reading them like books. Then the more I read the more I didn't feel that loving feeling. I really wanted to, but it just wasn't happening. I was learning nice details, seeing lots of photos but something was missing.

It made me start to really think about why I read the blogs I do. Why I have stayed with bloggers like Design Mom, EverKelly, Stephmodo,  and others I've mentioned here before. I figured out what it was. These and other favorite bloggers of mine tell us what they've been up to, what they've created, where they've traveled and share beautiful visuals of their life journeys. Then they take it a step farther. They share how their days have changed them, what their life experiences have made them ponder, how they've failed and humiliated themselves, how daily life with their families has pushed them to be better and how they feel about all these life adventures.

That sharing of vulnerability is what pulls me in and keeps me reading. It's what helps me connect with them on a human level. While I love pretty photos and fun stories it is the sharing of commonalities with them and learning from them that bonds me to them. Blogging friend Britt Reints, of In Pursuit of Happiness, recently wrote a fantastic article about vulnerability.

She mentioned in her article someone else who came to mind as I thought about my desire for connection with other bloggers. Dr. Brene Brown gave a Ted Talk on Vulnerability that has been viewed almost 10 million times.

Dr, Brown also appeared on two episodes of Super Soul Sunday on OWN recently where she talked about shame, vulnerability, courage, and bravery. She has so many amazing things to say about the need for vulnerability if we are to have fulfilling relationships, be brave and live our lives as we are meant to.

As I began to think of my closest, most trusted friends and I realized the ones I am most bonded to are the ones who never have a facade, will laugh at themselves, admit things are crap on some days and who I genuinely connect with. Vulnerability. I realized that is why some blogs stick to my radar and other don't. I'm so grateful for the blogging revolution and how it has brought new inspiration and connections to my life.

What is it that draws you into new blogs and keeps you there?

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