Every so often, I think about killing Project M.
Iâve been tired of the topic of marriage for a while. You can probably tell. I really just want to write about other things, like motherhood and social justice and radical Christian living. Writing about marriage has been great, but Iâm not sure if I have much else to say on the subject. I still donât think marriage is hard; I have no patience for trite marriage tips and I have little interest in talking about how to improve marriages. At the same time, I still think marriage is incredibly important and worth defending and staying committed to, and my marriage brings me extraordinary satisfaction and joy. I’d still say I’m passionate about marriage.
Also, I recently took the book Marriage, a History
But that’s neither here nor there.
Anyways.
Some very generous soul (souls?) nominated my blog once again for this yearâs Top 10 Marriage Blogs list. I was frankly astonished by this gesture, especially because I never promoted the contest on my blog or elsewhere. Someone out there still thinks Project M is a viable contender for the Top 10 Marriage Blogs of 2011?
I feel like Iâve mostly been a curmudgeon when it comes to the topic of marriage in 2011, and off-topic the rest of the time. Iâve written about pregnancy, birth, and parenting; Iâve talked a whole lot about singleness; and I even wrote a random post on barefooting. There were long stretches where I didnât blog at all â I only wrote one post for the month of June, and then only about why I wasnât blogging.
So when I heard that Iâd been nominated for the Top 10 list, I was hesitant to even bring it up. I waited a whole week. I didnât feel like my blog was worthy. But then I decided that if someone felt it was worth nominating, others might think it was worth voting for.
After all, I did write one post about how husbands can help in times of crisis. See? Iâm still a marriage blogger!
So this is me asking you to take a second to vote for my blog. Stu (an all-around nice guy, I must have you know) at Stupendous Marriage has made it really easy to just select a blog from the drop-down list.
Thanks a lot, you guys.
I also just want to throw out there that you guys are the greatest. As I was going through my yearâs posts to get a sense of what Iâve been doing in 2011, I was reminded what an amazing bunch of people have been supporting me through all this. Every comment that you leave here helps to make me a better person.
And if I do start up a new blog to follow my more recent interests, I will be sure to let you all know.
Thanks for being awesome.
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I feel like your more recent interests are still relevant to marriage. You now have the ability to blog about all the changes in you and your husband and how that is affecting your marriage. Please don’t give up on Project M I feel like you are still at the beginning.
Ah… But there’s the heart of it! Marriage doesn’t exist in a vacuum, it IS all of those things you say you want to write about.
Instead of writing specifically on the theme of marriage, (you’re not giving ‘tips and hints’ –and I don’t care for those either), then you should write about your life and interests; I just don’t see social justice, parenting, and radical Christian living as separate from marriage as a whole, ya’ know?
So, I definitely think you should write about those topics; they impact you and are part of who you are and what you bring to your relationship with your husband, how they interact with (even indirectly) or shape your ideas of marriage and perhaps what Ben thinks or shares interests about those subjects are important.
What PepperReed said!
Love it! I agree with the other comments: marriage is part of who you are, you can’t separate that from all the other exciting things you are thinking about. I think its shows how dynamic it is!
I’ve already voted for you, dear! It was a tough choice because I read a lot of the blogs on the list and love them… But your posts have been more informative and helpful to me this past year, so I had to vote for you :)
I have to echo what the choir is saying here. I think all those other “random” posts contribute to the topic of marriage because marriage doesn’t happen in a vacuum. I especially think parenting is closely related to marriage. The two things interact and impact each other a great deal. I hope you keep writing!
I know what you mean. I’ve also been struggling with moving on from marriage blogging. Seems like I’ve said all I have to say on the subject and others out there can say it better. One of the only things that keep me going are comments and emails from readers. I think your blog is great. Keep blogging here about whatever, and when marriage strikes you then wrote about that.
Just wanted to say, I recently stumbled upon your blog and I love all of your insights on marriage, life, ect. I too am a new mom and wife and it is so nice to know that there are other young adults out there that share the same values and beliefs. It is sad to see so many people look at marriage in a negative way. So glad I found your blog, it has really helped me to form and even more positive opinion about marriage. You have a wonderful way with words. I do hope that you keep this blog going :)
Please don’t kill Project M, Kathleen!! I think nearly everything you write ties in to marriage. I don’t think it has to be about marriage, per se, to be relevant to a marriage blog. Or maybe you should start a new, broader blog – but please promise you won’t stop blogging. :)
Oh, you guys are all too sweet and wonderful!! You fill my heart with gratitude and humility. Don’t worry, I don’t think I’ll ever stop blogging; I’m just contemplating a new blog that allows for a broader range of topics.
I say go for it! Your blog isn’t good because it is about marriage. It’s good because you are writing it. If you want to kill project M and go on to explore different topics, I think you should. I’m sure your marriage will still come up quite a bit, because it’s a part of who you are.
I would rather see you happy and blogging about other stuff than stuck on a topic you feel you’ve exhausted. =) Good luck Kathleen!
A new blog that allows for a broader range of topics? Ok, I can allow that. :)
Such a tough decision! i’m on the same boat!!! I’m exploring starting a blog under my own name so I can change the focus when I feel like it! Ha! :) But like what Pepper Reed said (similar to how you encouraged me when I was thinking about this out loud on my blog too..) all the other “peripheral topics” add to the content. It’s your voice that people keep coming back to. :) So either way, you’ll do good I think.