It has been one year since I launched this blog, which also occurred about 7 weeks before giving birth to child #3. Although the timing of that might have seemed a bit mad, I know, I realized that if I didn’t get it started before the kiddo arrived, it may never have happened. And that was certainly a correct assumption.
Through sleepless nights and the chaotic realization that adding the 3rd is not quite as “easy” as some claim (“As in, no sweat, you’ll barely notice you have another kid…”??), I have managed to publish around 12 entries. Certainly, I had aimed for higher frequency, but honestly, getting individual entries written, edited and published has been a small feat. I have a mountain of ideas all the time and copious notes and limited, dedicated time in which to polish and serve them up. I call this a happy problem, to be sure. Troublesome to me would be the issue in reverse.
The blog pursuit also created an opportunity for sticking a small toe into the waters that represent something outside of the kids and household. Truth be told, there are many moments I want to run headlong back into my old career and aspirations and pursuits, but at least writing has given me back a few moments of individual freedom. And also allows me to enjoy big, important moments with my very small kiddos.
Along the road of my blogging journey, I was lucky enough to find two other mommy blogger friends that have children at my son’s preschool. What are the chances!? We all cover different topics and it’s been fun to have others with which to share the journey. So, I was thrilled when they invited me to take a writing class with them at the San Francisco Writing Salon. The best thing I ever did was to just sign up, despite having no idea how I would figure out child care coverage and honestly, barely reading the description of the class. I did a running, flying leap right into the deep end of the pool. It wasn’t until the 3 of us were walking through the cool corridors of the mixed use building on evening #1 did we start whispering nervously and looking at each other, “Are we going to have to share our writing? Who else is taking this class? What did we sign up for??!!” We had no idea. And then we simply walked through the door.
Held in the evening, our class met in a modern loft space in the Mission district, a neighborhood that I don’t often get to visit. The class was intimate and comfortable, with students seated around in the living room section of the loft. As this was a journaling class, students held notebooks and journals and pens on their laps, while sipping coffees and teas, legs tucked up and underneath them, perhaps, seated on one of the couches. No computers, no desks. It gave off a very relaxed, creative vibe. Very San Francisco. Urban, cool and edgy, with talent bouncing and rebounding off of the small, art covered walls of the space.
And we were lucky to be surrounded by a group of such talented poets and photographers and journalists and fine artists and hobbyist writers. Everyone was generous in sharing personal experiences and thoughts and ideas. And all were supportive, which created a safe writing environment for generating content, as well as occasionally sharing passages. I loved it. It was exactly what I needed. It was an awesome, inspiring, invigorating experience.
And it solidifies another key reason why I brave raising my young family in this urban environment: to be able to drive across town and sit with a very talented group of folks on a Tuesday night who either are already doing great things or are working on their next great pursuit. It keeps me motivated, feels relevant and provides rich texture to my life. I can’t wait to take the next class.
So, happy birthday, dear blog! It has been a wonderful, interesting year, punctuated by this latest foray into the Writing Salon. I can’t wait to see what comes next…
Until next time,
The City Mouse
Please check out my talented fellow mommy blogger friends!
And, of course, our teacher, Ben Jackson wasn’t just any teacher, but a professor and poet who just won a prestigious and competitive writing award himself. Tor House Prize
The City Mouse 
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