a little boy and little girl sitting by each other

It never ceases to amaze me the sweetness that can exist between brother and sister when they don’t think I’m looking. Now, if only I could witness this between brother and brother. I’d probably pass out.

It is moments like this that keep me grounded and help me keep my perspective. Am I the only one that struggles with this? The ongoing balance of life?

I am so very grateful for this space of mine. This blog. It (and many of you!) have been a part of my life for over 5 1/2 years, which is a long time in blog-speak. But the challenge of balancing blogging with all the other things running through my reality keeps me hopping. No different from any of you managing family and jobs and well, life. It seems that at times the balance comes easily, other times not so much.

So, so much has changed in the food blogging world since I started out 5 1/2 years ago. First and foremost, what used to be a blog that only my mom looked at (hi, mom) has now grown into a spot visited by millions of visitors each month. Kind of knocks me flat when I think of it. What started as a fun little hobby has now turned into a wonderful work-from-home business. It used to be that snapping a quick picture and throwing it up on the web insisting people make it immediately was all it took to share a great recipe. Now, it seems the blogging pressures of the current day are to have the most Facebook followers, most pins, most ad revenue, most food props, most witty writing, most beautiful pictures, most sponsors, most traffic, most step-by-step pictures, most everything. While those aren’t necessarily bad things (some would argue they are changes for the greater good), it still makes me want to run far, far away sometimes. It’s hard not to get caught up in all the drama and noise of blogging, not to mention the competition that leaves me questioning my blogging self-worth (I mean, really, gag! Let’s talk about some real problems here!).

But honestly, stick with me here, my whole point in sharing this is that as I look back over the last nearly-six years, I realize that even though times are changing around me, I am still grounded by the same purpose I had when I posted for the first time ever back in December in 2007: to share tried-and-true recipes, baby. If that ends up leaving me behind in the swirling dust of the blogosphere, then so be it.

When I get burdened down by the cumbersome pressure of blog/life balance, all it takes is seeing a picture with the intense sweetness like the one above to remind me that at the end of the day, I am a mother first and a blogger second…or more realistically 3rd or 4th or 11th when all the other non-compensated roles come into play. And I really wouldn’t have it any other way. The minute I feel my rowdy, little family needs more mom and less blogger or if I lose sight of my goal (the one where I share recipes that rock my world with you), well, then, that’s when I’ll be calling it quits (not as a mother, as a blogger…jeez!). For now? It’s all about the food! And if anything other than sibling tenderness can restore balance in my life, it is food (dark chocolate food, in particular).

Thanks for listening. Love your guts.

If you’d like to check out past Snapshot Saturdays, click HERE.