John Gottman, in his wonderful book, “Why Marriages Succeed or Fail…And How You Can Make Yours Last” (1994) discusses the criteria for a stable marriage:
“…it all comes down to a simple mathematical formula:…you must have at least five times as many positive as negative moments together if your marriage is to be stable.”
So, you might ask, what’s a single mom like me doing reading a research-based marriage book?
Yeah, well, about that.
It has nothing to do with wanting to be married or in a relationship, though I do love Gottman’s work and the way he writes about it. I actually stumbled across Gottman’s work through my own research and study on student behavioral success and creating positive learning environments for all children. Creating a positive learning environment is not unlike marriage in some ways. If a relationship is to be perceived as positive or stable, there must be 5 times as many positive interactions as negative ones. This applies to relationships between parents and children or colleagues.
So, you might ask, what’s that got to do with blogging?
Well, yeah, about that.
To be honest, blogging hasn’t always been a positive experience for me. If you are a blogger you know that it feels great when people comment on your posts, when people notice, etc. This creates a community of sorts where people connect, comment, share and exchange pieces of their lives. There is a positive exchange and even if you don’t always get positive comments, hopefully, when things are going well (your blog is getting traffic and the traffic is commenting) you, as the blogger experience at least 5 to 1 positives for every negative.
That’s the positive part of blogging.
If, however, you are not self-employed, or have a flexible schedule like a stay-at-home parent or an entrepreneur, or a job that allows you to blog as part of your daily tasks, or, if like me, you just simply don’t know what the he** (can I say that here?) you are doing, then you might begin to experience some negativity associated with blogging.
If you wish to blog daily, but can’t, tally one negative for the frustration of wanting to write but not having time to do it well.
If you can’t write daily, tally another negative for the disappointment in seeing your blog stats decline. Blogging really is an “if you write it, they will come” endeavor.
If you can’t write daily and your blog stats dwindle, it means you are not getting traffic to your site and you are less likely to get comments or feedback on your blog. Tally another negative or two depending on how much this bothers you.
If you already don’t have enough time to write daily, you likely don’t have the daily time (except maybe on weekends or vacations) to do the required research and study to find out how to get your blog SEO or to drive traffic to your blog, develop your personal brand or simply get over to other blogs you love so you can keep up on what’s happening in their lives, and thereby comment, create and sustain a blog community for yourself. Tally, at least three negatives for that.
The positive? Hopefully you are writing for your own purposes and that is enough. If so, tally more positives for you than negatives. If not, then you’ve just ended up in an unstable blog relationship which might not last if you can’t turn that around for your bloggy self.
Maybe intervention is necessary.
For me, this intervention occurred, in part, when Amber over at Making The Moments Count awarded me the Sunshine Award. I wrote briefly about it in my post titled Awards, Recognition, Reality & Paying It Forward.
That equated to a number of tallies on the positive side of blogging for me. It was not enough to turn around my faltering blogging relationship but it at least kept me from divorcing my blog…at least for now.
You see, I do write for my own purposes, but somewhere along the line things changed and it became more than just about me. It became about what I like to refer to as “The Community”. It is about the friendships. It is about the challenges we all encounter and share in life. It is about the camaraderie, the laughter, the tears, the connections. It became about connecting with the real people behind the print.
The biggest negative for me is that I’ve missed keeping in touch with those other really excellent writers out there who share their stories, their perspectives, their knowledge and their lives through their blogs. I’ve missed what I gain from reading them.
So, you might ask, where am I going with this?
Yeah, well, about that, too. Like a wayward toddler in the toy store this post had a mind of its own. I’m working hard to put it back in the stroller, so to speak, but I’m failing, so I’ll get to the point.
I am going to pay it forward to 10 other bloggers who bring sunshine to my life, but again time constrains me so I’m going to do it in parts. What makes the bloggers I’m recognizing today so sunny for me is that they, like me, are not professional bloggers or writers. They struggle with the time demands of a job (outside writing) that takes up most of their day then they come home to the second shift, often on their own without the benefit of a partner. In fact, they don’t even write daily some of them. That worked in their favor here and that NEVER happens in the blogosphere.
So, here we go with the first three of ten to get the Sunshine Award from me.
Drum roll, please.
The first of these blogs I stumbled across months ago. The author has a graduate degree in Communication, the same area of study I did my undergrad work in. I’m fascinated by his approach to planned change and how he’s implemented the strategies in his own personal life to not only change his life but deliberately plan and improve his entire existence. Give it up for jassnight at The Critical Path. Better yet, go visit him!
The second of these blogs, I stumbled across a while back during my internet excursions. I was encouraged by the perspectives of a dad, who blogs and can cook and lives to tell about it. This must mean his cooking is tolerable; a quality I definitely admire in a man almost as much as I appreciate a man’s ability to communicate thoughtfully. He says he’s not first date material, but I’m thinking he’s got that wrong, after all, he has a day job and it isn’t blogging. Give it up for Travis over at A Culminating Life.
The third daddy blogger, gets the sunshine award for keeping it real and sharing the good, the bad, and the irritating post-divorce single parenting realities. He works in one of the most stressful professions I could imagine in probably one of the most stressful locations in the country. I applaud him for consistently trying to be the best dad he can be and for sharing his joys and his disappointments so candidly. If you haven’t done so already, I’d encourage you to visit Big City Dad. I think you’ll enjoy it.
So there you have it. Today’s top three. I hope they got some positive reinforcement from this award and will now share this award with ten other bloggers who bring them sunshine (however, they choose to define it). It’s going to be very fun reconnecting and visiting all their great links…at Spring Break!
I can hear those words now just as I heard them during the summers of my childhood blaring out of the community swimming pool loudspeakers. I haven’t heard them in a while. Those old Elton John lyrics are running through my mind this morning. Southern Oregonians this last week experienced a beautiful week of sunny weather in the high 60’s to mid 70’s. It was a definite precursor to the wonderful sunny and dry weather we usually enjoy during our summers. Contrary to popular folklore, not all parts of Oregon are soaked in rain most of the year. I live in one of the sunnier regions. Less populated for sure, but it’s worth the wonderful warm dry summers and mild winters and the year round outdoor activities we enjoy. 
This morning, however, the weather abruptly changed. Lower temps and some rain welcomed me upon waking. I figure now is probably as good a time as any (and probably long overdue) for me to reveal my last three picks for the Sunshine Award. 
The Wild Mind 