Setting Goals – seeing value

This is the first assignment from the Blog Improvement Project. I am supposed to set goals for my blog. Now, if any of you know me at all then you know setting goals is not something I do very well. I have more of a tendency to take things a moment at a time than look that far in advance. What kind of goal would I even set for my blog? While I was reading the assignment post something struck me.

Visionary Blogging suggests nine different topic areasfor setting blog goals:

• content
• design
• community
• traffic
• RSS or e-mail subscribers
• search engines
• social media
• monetization
• blog value

This is a quote from the post, and I have to admit as I was reading through the list I got a little overwhelmed. And then I hit that last one, and it struck me, “blog value.” No matter how it was meant when it was originally crafted into this list, blog value gives me much to think about.

I do not make money at this blog, so I’m not going to try to make more. I do not expect to receive a lot of traffic, so I don’t think I’m going to be trying to get more people through here. (I would rather be found.) Yes, I am a romantic by heart. But I do want this blog to have value, to many.

• I want family and friends to share in our life even if they are far away. There will be more pages like yesterday which will probably be the closest thing to scrapping I will get right now. I want them to see us, and hear about us if they so want. While not every day is good, I will limit the bad I share here because usually when wrapped in the middle of bad my perspective is flawed. I hope to share those days after time has passed.
•  I will share more information that I would want to pass down. I don’t have daughters, but I have two wonderful sons who may one day like to know what I thought. This is where I will put it. I am not the most brilliant woman, best chef, or tidiest housekeeper, but I have advice and I have good thoughts and it would be great if this was a resource of some type for others.
• I will share my studies when I dig into the Bible. I plan to re-engage with God in my study times and summaries will be put here. Not my tiny notes which are confusing and perhaps boring to others, but my overall thoughts, and possibly some bunny trails I find myself on.
• I will share my crochet work, and any other crafts that I do. I want people to see that beauty and art can be found in so many places. While I have much to learn regarding crochet I think sharing where I am now will possibly help me move forward with it as well.
• I will still share my rambles as I always have. That has been a part of every blog, in one way or another, since I began blogging.

Which brings me to another point. When I first began blogging it was so that I could have someone hear me. I distinctly remember saying that I was going to have a blog so that I could have people share with me, hear me, and have a place to put stuff. That has changed over the time, and going back to the beginning I see I don’t need this anymore. I have friends and loved ones who will listen to me, and usually the times I don’t feel understood are the times I am wrapped up in an incorrect perspective. I will not be venting or being ugly here. Oh, I will not always be as positive as I would like, but I will be making an effort to keep things beautiful and lovely.

The quote at the top of my page says, “The years teach much which the days never know.” I am sure you will be able to glean more from these pages right now than I will, but maybe with a purpose in mind, and a few goals, after a few years I will be able to look back and learn much.

The main reason this blog exists, despite all the goals and hopes and dreams, is because my life carries with it a value that is worth talking about. And through sharing it I hope that others see the value in their own lives as well. God planned these days, and I hope this blog becomes a celebration of life as it is.