Octopus Hug

Whenever I start writing in a new journal, the first page always intimidates me. In fact, I've purposefully skipped the first page before, simply because I didn't want to try to think of something worthy enough for the first page of a journal. After all, isn't the first sentence supposed to pull your reader into an octopus-like hug, winding tentacles around your brain and heart until they just have to finish reading?

After a recent hiatus in blogging, I have that first-page phobia again. What can I write that will actually be beneficial? What do I have to say that hasn't already been said? Why am I taking my time to do this?

I'm hoping to return to the habit of blogging with a clearer sense of direction and purpose. And since I often lose my focus and forget my purpose, I thought I'd jot down a few thoughts to help me remember why I'm doing this.

I hope my blog will be...

• A personal writing outlet.
  Often the threat of an immediate audience and potential scoffing scares me away from this purpose, but writing is one of the ways I process life. I'm not a "writer," but writing helps me clarify my thoughts, redirect my focus, and have a bit o' fun.
• A place to document family milestones.
  Anything from birthdays to first steps to an unsolicited "thank you" from Caleb counts. I too easily forget how much is happening in our lives and how fast time is flying. Writing about milestones may help me remember and be able to answer you when you ask, "What have you been up to lately?"
• A place to inform family and friends of our extraordinarily ordinary (or ordinarily extraordinary, depending on your perspective) lives.
  I'm not a great phone communicator, so this is one way I can share with my family and friends what we do around here. And besides, I can't send pictures over the phone! (Some of you may be able to, but we in the pre-cell-phone-and-data-plan era cannot.) Therefore, you actually get to see Caleb's first attempts at crawling and to hear about Luke's accomplishments at work.
• A place to celebrate.
  I hope to celebrate God's goodness and faithfulness in the little things (like this and this) and the big things (like this and this). I hope you'll celebrate with me.

What my blog will not be...

• The whole picture.
  Poopy diapers may be part of my life right now, but I'm not writing about them. I spend enough time dealing with them; I'm not about to spend more time writing about them. In the same way, you won't get a complete picture of our lives just by reading this blog. Some of the most important family milestones won't appear here because either it's too personal, too difficult, too ugly, too mundane, or too wonderful to write about.
• A place to complain.
  Life is good, but not all the time. I don't plan to complain about the times when I don't see how good life is. If I do start to complain, you have permission to correct me. You don't need to hear about how difficult my life is; usually I'm wrong anyway.
• High on my priority list.
  This is a hobby. I'm not writing about using my crockpot everyday for the next 365 days or some other crazy goal. When life gets crazy or my attitude needs adjusting, expect me to disappear for a bit. I'd rather regret spending too little time with my blog than regret spending too little time with my family and on things that really matter in the end.

By the way, what do you do when reading a book about an octopus with a very active kid? Since I have no idea what an octopus really says or does, I've been teaching Caleb that an octopus gives hugs. What else do you do with 8 arms?