Community Voices for Health

By: Mary Morris

I really enjoy doing this blog for Signature Healthcare. I get to write. In fact, it forced me to start writing again. I had sort of let it go. I became too busy.  How many of us do this with things that are important to us?

And I get to write in the company of all these fabulous Moms and all the wonderful people who support the blog. Then there is the audience of people who make this a community. It is a pretty cool thing.  It certainly makes you less lonely to be a part of a group of writers, mothers and readers who all share a common goal: providing the best life for our children and trying to keep a modicum of dignity while doing so!  Did I mention I went out for a quick errand today with my sweatpants on backwards?  Yes, I said sweatpants.  And yes, I said backwards.

This blog has given me much more. It has given me back the ability to set aside time for myself. I don’t have to feel guilty or selfish for making time to write. Like most people, I always have a list of things to do. I never get through my list. And now I have decided that when an item is on the list for too long and isn’t that important, I cross it off and say it is never going to get done, so now it is done.  Off the list.

Writing the blog has given me the confidence to set goals and follow through on them.  When I first started I would write, and then edit, and edit again. Then I would hate the piece and start a new topic. Then I would go back to the original. It became so time consuming that I would go back to the first draft and realize, this is the piece. No edits.  Just raw writing, right from the heart.

Then there is all this exciting news coverage, and I am a part of that. It is thrilling to have readers find humor and help in the blog. It gives you momentum and more confidence.

So I am leaping to the final frontier…well, I don’t know about final, but I have my own blog now!  It was on my ‘to do’ list for at least one year. On the top: Start a blog.  And thanks to my participation in this blog, I have done just that.

It is certainly a work in progress, as we all are, right?  I love the writing part because now I am writing more. The technical stuff, well, I am learning it day by day. I want to invite all my readers here to check it out. I am not leaving Signature but I can now also be found at www.itiswhatiteez.com.  If you like my personal blog, please subscribe with your email. I even have followers now! Amazing! And if you have a suggestion or feedback, please reach out on the ‘Contact me’ page.

My advice is to dust off your ‘To Do’ list and move the most important item to the top.  And make it something you want to do for yourself.

** An interesting side note to this piece is when I saved it; the title I had given it was ‘The power of self-promotion.’ However, that was too long for the window and what was actually saved was ‘The power of self.’ Very interesting, huh?  I thought there was a pretty cool hidden message there!