Going Back – No More Fishing

Stop me if you’ve heard this one!

A guy is speeding down the highway when he’s pulled over by a police officer. As the officer approaches the car, the guy rolls down his window and asks the officer “Officer, I was not going any faster than any of the other dozens of cars that I was keeping pace with. Why am I the one who got pulled over?” The officer stops for a moment and says “Well, do you ever go fishing?” The guy looks at the officer in confusion and says “Yes, Sir. I do.” To which the officer replies “Do you ever catch ALL the fish?”

I heard that joke over a decade ago and for whatever reason, it stuck with me over the years. Not because it was particularly funny, it just stuck. And for whatever reason, as I drove past a police car on the highway today, I thought about that joke again… and then I had an epiphany of sorts.

Those of you who subscribe (thanks J and A!!) and have been with me from the beginning know that this blog has sort of fallen to the wayside for me. Not because I’ve lost the passion I started out with, nor because I don’t love to write or feel that I have something to say. I’ve become completely paralyzed by trying to catch ALL the fish. So paralyzed that I lost my true voice somewhere along the last few months.

I second guess my topics and my articles as not “broad” enough to reach a large audience. But here’s the thing, I never wanted to write for EVERYONE. I wanted to write for blended families, families with children, chosen families that aren’t necessarily 1 mom and 1 dad and 2.3 children and a dog. I wanted to write for all of the people who have complicated money lives… who have to work extra hard to make everything work together.

There are a thousand other finance blogs out there… some for Christians… others for college kids… even more for recent grads… DINKs… and even retirees. I love those blogs. I read them and learn from them. Many of them are in my Blog Roll. But those aren’t my story to tell. I’m going back to ignoring how many subscribers that little window on the right shows. I’m going back to doing what I love and speaking in my OWN voice…. And not the watered down version for the “broadest audience”.

I’m going back to writing to you… the people I KNOW, the people I relate to, the people who really connect to my story. The people who know just how complicated being re-married with children from both sides can be, or who know that adding more adults into the household makes things exponentially more difficult can be, are the ones who share my voice. I’m going back and rectifying that. I’m going back to finding my voice again.

In order to kick start my re-entry into my writing, I’m taking part in Darren Rowse’s 31 Days to a Better Blog challenge beginning Monday. I don’t know what to expect from this experience, but I do know that I’m ready to fall in love with writing this website again. I sure hope that you’ll join me along the way. But I totally understand if you don’t.

OH, and as long as you’re here, Pecuniarities held the FIRST EVER Carnival of Pecuniary Delights last week. (It’s REALLY ok if you have to look Pecuniary up in the dictionary… I did too.) She has gathered some top notch submissions for this carnival, focusing on the Cream of the Crop of personal finance articles. Of course, I think it’s fabulous because she included one of my articles Please pay her a visit and read some pretty great stuff.