Tomorrow is the fourth anniversary of The Double Life of Mrs M (the predecessor of Mrs M’s Curiosity Cabinet). It has been four years since I tentatively committed my thoughts and experiences to cyberspace and another six months before I started to tell friends about this space.
Journey to date
Much has changed in my life in the last four years and some changes have definitely been helped along by my scribblings here. If it had not been for my blogging, I may never have acknowledged just how much I enjoy in the miscellany of daily life; re-valued longstanding interests; or realised that random long-held aspirations were still bubbling away below the surface. In short, I may never have admitted that my double life, or rather a life of many faces, was the essence of me and that I wanted that version of me more than an all-consuming career.
Early readers of my blog will have followed my journey from me entertaining the idea of taking a few more risks to me embarking on a short sabbatical and ultimately leaving the law.
As life spins on around me, I have inevitably alluded to major events that become the markers of life, like births, weddings and death (whether of a father, mother or pet) and, of course, to Mr M – my best friend and rock.
Looking back over the past four years the constants on this blog are food (from the garden fork to the plate), the joy of making, resourcefulness, curiosity and learning, and most of all words. Although I’m developing my photography skills, my love of writing is very much and will always be at the heart of Mrs M’s blog.
Where next?
As blogging has allowed me to find my voice (as well as meet some super people), I have no plans to stop but I have, for some time, been wondering where to take this blog next? My thoughts have turned to moving my blogging home but I’m torn.
As the real Mrs M is no longer living in the twilight, I wonder if I have outgrown my blog’s title? To change it to something more appropriate, I’d have to move my blog and if I do that, it makes sense to self-host my site. This would give me more flexibility and control, e.g. it would allow me to block unsolicited adverts so my readers can enjoy a digital ad-free oasis.
So why my hesitation? As a Luddite I don’t get particularly excited about jumping through digital hoops. I’m sure I’d learn a lot and feel empowered by it but I can already hear myself swearing at software and see myself losing a raft of new passwords. And to be honest, I’ve become quite attached to this cyber home. It may not be the most designed blog in the world and a little clunky in spaces but every feature, widget and what-not is the result of my dogged determination.
And then there are my philosophical qualms about rebranding. Much of our disposable culture is based on slight tweaks to products and services that make existing ones obsolete. Such changes are rarely driven by a real need but are designed to create extra economic activity. Even though I may have valid reasons for changing this blog, I’m just not sure that I want to partake in the rebranding culture. The best arrangement would be to change the name and move to self-hosting but to keep the existing design. Unfortunately, this design is now redundant for self-hosted blogs (proving my point about unnecessary obsolescence).
Your thoughts
As blogging is more two-way than traditional print, I’d welcome your thoughts.
- Would you follow my journey at a different address or if the space looked different?
- Are there any topics you particularly like reading about?
- Would you like to see any of my posts form the basis of more extensive stand-alone volumes? (I refuse to use the term e-books!)
Finally, I should love to know which post you have particularly enjoyed and why? Has one of my posts inspired you to try something new; to look at something differently; to appreciate somebody or something in a new light; or just provided a moment of delightful reprieve in an otherwise busy life…?
Please do share your thoughts below in the comments box.
I very much enjoyed your blogs (and especially the ones about being post-war thrifty : from simple food leftover re-creations to sowing your own bra). I don’t see why you would have to move away from this blog location, but if you do: sign me up!