“Find your voice and inspire others to find theirs.” Stephen Covey

Part of becoming an empty-nester is figuring out who I am in this new chapter of my life, and as a blogger I need to be able to share my experience in a relatable way. For a woman who is never at a loss for words, I have been surprised how hard it is to find my blogger’s voice. I’ve tossed dozens of posts after re-reading them because they just didn’t sound like me. I want to offer advice but don’t want to sound like a know-it-all mom or a crabby old lady. I want to be my funny self without being corny or trite. I want to “be real” but not too real—there’s just some stuff you don’t need to know. I feel like I have a lot to say but don’t know how to say it.

While I would never consider myself a perfectionist (okay, maybe that’s what all perfectionists say), I hesitate to publish what I have written because it just isn’t “good enough.” To which I question: Good enough for who? The best part about being a new blogger is not having an audience which gives me the freedom to make all kinds of crazy mistakes. I have a feeling that this blog will be an adventure of hits and misses (hopefully more hits). For now, I am truly able to blog like nobody’s watching.

In the meantime, here are a few things I have learned in my new blogging adventure that I need to remember:

1. It’s more important to be consistent than perfect. My grandmother’s voice is stuck in my head reminding me, “Anything worth doing is worth doing right.” Maybe that’s true but it’s hard to tell what is right. Fear of imperfection has paralyzed me. Instead of producing “good enough content,” I am publishing no content. I am learning that perfect is the enemy of the good. So, I need to just consistent create and publish posts. With each post, I am confident that my content will become increasingly better, because I do know that practice makes perfect (or at least progress).
2. I can’t find my voice if I don’t speak. Maybe some posts will sound preachy and maybe I will over-share. It doesn’t matter. My authentic voice will come through over time.
3. The best exercise to produce blogging confidence is to go to your favorite blog (the one with millions of followers, beautiful photos and flawless content) and read the blogger’s very first posts. I will bet that those posts aren’t only imperfect but they don’t even “sound” like the blogger you have come to love. Doing this made me realize if you want to be authentic your blogging voice needs to come out organically.
4. Keep a journal or a notepad and write things down. I’d say put it in your phone, but honestly I’d never remember it was there when I needed it. Like most empty-nesters, I am of the age where an idea can pop into my head and be gone in an instant. I’m a little old school– or maybe I’m just old. I need to write everything down with a pen on paper. No matter how I do it, I need to capture my thoughts before I lose them.
5. I don’t need to worry about formatting and getting the perfect look. To be honest, I don’t even know all the formatting tools available to me nor do I know exactly how to use the ones I do know about. It doesn’t matter. I spent too much time trying to figure out how to get the quote looking right in the quote box. For now, I need to just say what I want to say and learn as I go.

There are countless numbers of bloggers out there who have a story to tell, but I am the only one who can tell my story. My voice is unique, and in that, it is perfect.

Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “no you can make you feel inferior without your consent.” I can’t let the challenge of finding my inner voice discourage me from the journey. Are you ready to take this journey with me?