From the outside, creativity in the mom-blogosphere can seem sparse. We talk about the everyday. The tantrums, the teething, and the trips to the zoo. Where is the originality in that?
But, speaking from the inside of this community, I want to tell you that the creativity is there. I see it everyday.
The creativity is there as a mother learns how to describe her immeasurable love for her children with written words.
The creativity is there in a picture captured that may not have existed had the photographer not hoped to share it on her blog.
The creativity is there.
Because of that, I find it incredibly unfortunate that the title "mommy blogger" tends to stir up negative associations. Really, who am I to judge a platform that allows women to express themselves and their creativity in ways that were impossible 15 years ago? It is an incredibly unique phenomenon that means women all over the world are working to create things worthy of sharing, and what they are creating is beautiful.
The beauty is there. I see it everyday.
The beauty is there in a hug shared by long-time dear friends who had never met until now.
The beauty is there in a letter written to a mother's unborn baby.
The beauty is there in a community that surrounds and supports a mother who never gets to meet her unborn child.
The beauty is there in the simple act of acknowledging that it, the beauty, pervades all of life, even the seemingly unglamorous life of a hard-working mother.
I see the boom of mommy blogging as a boom of the beautiful, of the creative expression of women, and that thrills me. It is something of which I am honored to be a part.
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Allison Olfelt has been blogging in some form since 2005. A graduate of Illinois's Wheaton College, today she writes at O My Family which is an honest, tell-it-like-it-is blog coming straight from the trenches of brand new motherhood. As a new Minnesotan, Allison and her family are learning to love drawn out vowel sounds, calling casseroles "hot dishes", and -30 degree winters.
