Keeping a Focus When You Blog

When I started Making This Home, I was an expat blogger.  I was a home remodel blogger.

I did not pause to figure out what direction my blog would take.  What about when we were in the United States?  What about when our remodel was finished?  You can only do so much remodeling to a 480 square foot apartment; I didn’t even think about it.

I just wanted to write.  Swap experiences.  Connect.  Celebrate the moments.

“Your blog,” I’ve heard so many times from other bloggers.  ”It’s a little unfocused.”

The sweet Di (an expat from South Africa) contradicted that and said, “No Katie.  Your blog is Making This Home.  You’re blogging about whatever place “this” is right now in your life.  ”This” doesn’t mean the exact same thing all the time, and that’s actually a really good thing.  For most of us, “this” is always changing somehow, too.”

She said I was genius.

(hehe – that cracks me up just to think about.  I think I spelled genius wrong until I was about 22.)

The truth is that I don’t think Making This Home will ever be more focused.  I’m always challenging myself and – as you know so well – daring you to challenge yourself, too.

The constant in Martin’s and my lives (and I hope this blog) is simply this:  a constant challenge to try new things, a constant challenge to learn, and a constant challenge to be the best people Martin and I can be – for ourselves and for others.

One week ago, we didn’t have a single human neighbor within earshot of our home… make that earshot using a megaphone.

On our last night in the tire house, we woke up a little early when two geese landed on our roof.  They were honking and flopping their big feet on the roof.  It made me laugh and laugh.  Geese feet sure are noisy – who knew?!

Then our second night here in Berlin, our neighbor hosted a party with thumbing techno music and drunk German singing until 5 in the morning.  (Now that did not make me laugh!)  Then another neighbor was vacuuming the entrance to her front door at 9 the next morning.

I’m living in two very different worlds.  It is night in one when it is day in the other.

When I compare my life or Making This Home to other blogs, I think, “Ha!  You’re such a weirdo, Katie. Where’s the uniformity?  Where’s the calendar to keep your topics right in line?”

Yes, this is a giant bike thingy called “A Beer Bike”.  Those aren’t American or German tourists taking a ride, so you know.  It’s noon on Sunday!

Sometimes I ask Martin if I should start blogging about just ONE thing.

You know what he does?  He laughs.

“You’d be soooo bored, Katie!”

A couple of days go by, and I come up with a plan.  ”Maybe I should just call Making This Home a lifestyle blog.”

“Or,” Martin responds.  ”Maybe you shouldn’t worry about any of that.  Just keep doing what you love.  Ultimately, isn’t that what makes you happiest?”

Just keep doing what you love, people!  (I love that!)  Besides, what do you even call our lifestyle?  We haven’t even figured out how to answer that basic question:

“So where do you live?”

Writing Making This Home has made me so much more aware of the beautiful differences in all my experiences in Germany and the United States.  It makes me so much more aware and grateful.

Blogging has actually connected these two different worlds for me.  Old posts give me a chance to refresh myself before each move and share my experiences with family and with you.

You want to know a secret?  I find the most happiness in life when I forget about normal and celebrate who I am and what I have.

If you always focus on being normal, you can’t stretch yourself.  You can’t be yourself.  You can’t become the greatest version of yourself.

So there are home bloggers and minimalist bloggers, food bloggers and fashion bloggers.  Put me down for “follow your heart blogger”.  I think that’s what I’d like to be.

Would you do me a favor?  I’d love to know two things about you, too. (picture those sad deer eyes here!)

1. What draws you to Making This Home?

2. What’s a way that you follow your heart or celebrate you and your world? Obviously, untraditional and not-normal are totally expected and accepted here. I think someone just called us nomads last week… and it wasn’t because of the bikes.