Light Someone’s Candle

light someones candle 

Recently I was hanging out with some blogger friends and we were talking about the thing that all of us had in common; blogging.  Blogging conversation always turns to how to get more followers, how to make money blogging, how to make it big, how to go viral; the usual struggles of the small blog life.  We were lamenting the fact that some big time bloggers don’t seem to care enough to help out the little guys or can’t be bothered with reaching out unless a paycheck is involved.  One of my partners in blogging crime said something to the effect of “lighting someone else’s candle won’t make yours any less bright”.  For some reason this hit me like a ton of bricks and has stuck with me.  I can’t control what other people are going to do or not do, but I can control my own actions and reactions.  I knew that I had to stop focusing on me and light someone else’s candle.

In blogging and in life everything can easily turn into “it’s all about me”.  This sentiment is fueled by our need for everything to happen right now thanks to our every shrinking attention span and ever increasing barrage of visual stimulation online and on TV.  We are so used to the instant gratification that social media provides that when we don’t have the desired number of “likes” we wonder what is wrong.  Last week I wrote a post that saw a lot of traffic (for me, anyway) and that was great, but this week I’m back to my normal (some would call them pitiful) numbers, and that’s just fine too.  It can’t all be about me all the time.  Another thing that happened last week was I found myself engaged with a bunch of other bloggers on Twitter through a fluke “reply all” email from a media company.  One of the bloggers has a pretty hefty following but took the time to engage with no-names like myself.  She gave me hope that not all big-time bloggers are snobs but rather just regular people who happen to have followers with the letter “k” after the number.  

Since meeting with my bloggy friends I have seen blogging success in a whole new light.  I have given up worrying about me and instead have turned my focus outward.  Rather than obsess over my own success, or lack thereof, I’ve been focusing on others.  The result: a weight has been lifted off my shoulders.  I continue to do my thing and pursue my goals but without the stress of waiting, wondering and wishing.  I trust that my time will come, even if it’s not as quickly as I would like or in the form that I had originally planned.

I want to make things around here more bright so I’m going to light some candles.  These are some blogs I’ve been crushing on lately.

 Marisa Mohi  Marisa is one of my new found bloggy friends and a kindred spirit.  She is a great writer and a contributor to The Lost Ogle (which is nothing to sneeze at).  She has a dry, witty sense of humor and I’ve really enjoyed getting to know her in real life as well as online.

The Mom Cafe I have been crushing on Chris for a while now.  She writes about the ups and downs of parenting and how she leans on her faith to get her through the tough times.  I have had the pleasure of knowing Chris as an online friend for a couple of years and I’m thrilled that she recently got picked up by The Huffington Post.  

Mari Farthing  Mari is another blogger friend and my co-conspirator at Oklahoma Women Bloggers.  She and I have gotten to know each other as we work to build a community of women bloggers and I have loved getting to know her in real life and through her writing.

The OK Mamma Kelly is a blogger I recently discovered and am so glad I did.  There is something about her writing that really speaks to me.  She blogs about her family, parenting, faith, fashion, reviews, food, random stuff…pretty much things I blog about.  

Brene Brown – Brene certainly don’ts need me to light her candle, it’s pretty bright already.  However, I’m inspired by what she has to say.  She is the source of my inspiration for my word of the year “be brave” and the quote on the back of my business cards: “Courage: telling the story of who you are with your whole heart”.  

The Unlikely Farm Girl – Carol is brand new to blogging and needs some love.  She is chronicling her adventures living on a farm with her husband, 5 kids and menagerie of farm animals.  Lord help me if I ever have to raise 5 children and wrangle chickens too.

6 Responses

  1. Chris Carter

    AW!!!! This is just so so sweet of you!!! I LOVE what your friend said… it DOESN’T dim your light any ANY when you shine it on another… if anything, it magnifies it tenfold.

    Thank you for picking ME to shine your light on. I feel the warmth, my friend. SO grateful.

    And I need to go check out the other bloggers that you mentioned! 🙂

    • Megan Sherrer

      When I originally saw the title to this entry, I am immediately thought about Rent. Although I’m disappointed it wasn’t about the Broadway play, I think you’re a great gal!

    • Stephanie Clinton

      You do such a good job of shining light on others I wanted to make sure you got some love too!

  2. Thoughts on Writing and Blogging - Hugs, Kisses and Snot

    […] This week I was having lunch with a friend and we were talking about her business and how to promote it.  Owning a business is not for the faint of heart.  Now matter how much you wish and hope and pray, it doesn’t just promote itself.  It takes a lot of work and when you’re the one in charge all the responsibility falls on you to make things happen.  The same rules apply if you have a brick and mortar store or an online store, if you’re a retailer or a writer.  As we were saying goodbye she asked me the question every blogger is secretly hoping every real life friend and acquaintance will ask…“What about you? How can I help you promote your blog? What are your goals?”  unfortunately I was at a bit of a loss on how to answer her.  Unless you have a staff to do the leg work of promoting your blog on all the social media outlets, find brands to work with and make you look like a rock star; blogging can be solitary and a labor of love.  You know those bloggers with followers in the hundreds of thousands and really fancy looking sites?  That doesn’t happen all on its own organically.  There is a machine behind the green curtain making things happen.  They have a staff…who get paid money.  Most bloggers will never have that, and I’m okay with that.  For the small time bloggers, we depend on each other to help promote the posts and blogs we love.  We share opportunities with our online friends when we think it will benefit someone else and we are each other’s cheerleaders.  We spread the love and light each other’s candles. […]

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