One Year of blogging

Today marks the day that I have been blogging for a year

Tomorrow will start my second year.

So I thought that this was a good a day as any to reflect on the whole blogging part of my life.

I have really enjoyed the journey - I have also really enjoyed the connections with people from all over the world that provoke my thoughts and allow me to think deeper and more critically about what I do and why I do the things that I do... but self -critical is probably not something I need help with - it IS something that I am a bit too good at - and in a sense the blog as allowed me to see what I do and to feel proud of what I am achieving - and not the continous "I want to do more", "I want to be better", "how can..." - I think balance in life is important...

Balance is something I still need to work on - my preschool part of myself is maybe the most dominant side of who I am - for better or for worse. It is very much an enormous part of my identity - as well as being a mother, a wife and just plain old me...

I think I do the blog for me... YES, I think that sharing ideas and inspiration is vital - and it is part of why I am so active... but my brain is always so busy that it is actually VERY nice to pour out my thoughts onto the blog and then let myself sleep instead of lying in bed churning over the ideas and ponderings...

My husband says I think too much - which is probably true - everyday I go back on what I have said and done during the day - could I have said it differently - as I said I am very self critical...

BUT that means that I have a hard time accepting status quo - that others just do things because they have always been done like that - so it means I question EVERYTHING - and I guess that is not always appreciated at first... and it is something that I am grateful that age has helped me with - to understand the diversity of everyone - and the wonders that brings and that the frustrations are a part of those wonders... and the more you concentrate on the wonders the less frustrating the frustrations become - does that even make sense?

I have a huge curiosity to learn more and more - and the only way to do that is to ask more and more questions - why do you do it like that, what happens if you do it like this instead, how can you make that work when... I have seen others do it like this, I have done this before and...
I guess it can make me a royal pain in the bottom in some groups - but I never assume I am right, I am always digging for more knowledge - and sometimes I can be passionate about something but can reflect later and assimilate ideas and let my own philosophy about children and how I work with children grow and develop.

I never thought many would bother reading my blog - and it really does suprise me that so many do - and from so many parts of the world - it truly humbles me - that I am a small part in a whole world wide interest in making learning fun and meaningful for children - people who believe in the competence of children and also want to be inspired ... by me ... as I am so inspired by many others - and I am grateful for their time, their thoughts and their devotion to sharing ideas.

I keep thinking that maybe its time to step back a little from blogging - and blog a little less. Not sure if I will be able to do that... but I think it is something I need to do to find balance in my life.

As fun as this journey is - and as much as I love the time and reflection of what I do at work it does take time... So I am sitting here trying to work out what to do - do I say - "no more than x blogs a month" or do I just let it flow... ?
I have never felt I had to write a post to keep the blog alive, it has always been a case I had so many thoughts spinning in my head that a post was a great place to sort them...

... kind of scary to think that you have all been inside my head for the last year... but I guess that is about sharing. And everyone who has taken the time to comment - either here or on my facebook page Interaction Imagination I thank you - because your feedback is what helps me in my own learning journey.
The FB page also allows me to collect other ideas and inspiration from a wide range of inspiring people and places - in a way this blog is my reflection time - my page is like a big basket for collecting ideas - that I just happen to share with anyone that is interested...

So thank you everyone for being a part of my first year of blogging - and let's see what the coming year brings...

I hope it brings opportunities to meet some of the amazing people I have met through blogging and other social media.