{Roots} Notes from the Roots

For the second woman in all of us

I began my blogging journey because I wanted to write again. Slowly at first, and then very quickly, I realized that writing is not really what blogging is about. Or at least, it has not been for the last decade or so since I started my first blog and then moved onto the second and my love today, Sugar Maple Farmhouse - a space named for an old, beautiful tree that marked my home.

What started as a little space on the internet where I had hoped to share my dreams, successes, disappointments and little moments turned into a place people visited for quick hits - paragraphs to skim (and mock on Twitter and Threads), recipes to “jump to” and DIYs to copy without credit, thought or care. It turned into a place where “writing” became about what Google wanted, even as Google turned its back on bloggers by stealing everything they created to train their AI. It became the “Keeping up with the Jones” for the internet age - or worse, the Kardashians - as I watched bloggers completely change who they were each time a new place or new tool became the “It” of the moment. It became about the backend mechanics of the website (ugh), the social media platform that was hot, the editing tools you used and how many followers you could amass. It became about influencing - something I never loved the idea of and do not believe I truly have the patience for nor the personality. Instead of becoming a writer, I became a “writer”.

And while I love my blog and will continue to publish on it because I adore cooking and sharing our home, I now know it will never be the place where I am the kind of writer I yearn to be. My voice grew stagnant there over the years as the format became a regurgitation of something the masses would settle for. I have slowly tried to start weaving my voice into each post more again, as I dream that people will someday want to connect with a real human in a cyberspace now cluttered with artificial intelligence. And that has made me happier. Hopefully, it will still be a website that inspires people and puts delicious food on their family tables for years to come.

However, I still felt I needed a place where I could be more than just a blog “writer”.