Pearls of Prudence is back, and the month-long hiatus was refreshing and needed. I am excited to jump back into posting. After consulting with an esteemed reader, poring over blogging information sites and chat rooms with other bloggers, and brainstorming, I have decided to make several changes going forward which I will explain in some detail below.
There are certain aspects of who I am that I feel I need to highlight as they play into the changes that are being made. Any consistent reader of the blog is aware that I am an over thinker, and I do not take any decision I make lightly. But something that may or may not have come across in the posts is how much I value honesty. I want to be honest about why I am making these changes so here it goes.
When I began Pearls of Prudence, I felt that I needed a niche and structure to keep me grounded and focused. I felt drawn towards wedding planning issues likely because I had recently planned my own. Writing for brides would also allow me to write on two topics I am passionate about which is relationships and conflict management which go together with wedding planning. Early on before I launched publicly, I began to fear that I would be restricting myself to a narrow topic area and I would eventually run out things about which to write. This is how the Girlfriends and Wives sections came to be. The focus of Pearls of Prudence then shifted from strictly wedding planning to also include conflict management and relationships topics.
I loved writing for these sections, I could challenge myself each week to write posts with a specific audience in mind, and it gave me structure which kept me on track. Pearls of Prudence also allowed me to do two things I love – researching and learning. Francis Bacon said, “Knowledge is Power” and I gained a lot of knowledge this past year and was fortunate enough to share what I learned with you.
Photo by Gaelle Marcel on Unsplash
Over the hiatus, I looked over the posts from last year, reviewed which topics seemed to generate the most traffic and which fell short. I mentioned honesty was something I valued, not just from and to others, but with myself. I recognized that since I am not in the wedding industry continuing to write from the perspective of a bride felt overplayed like I was riding the coattails of my wedding. The first change I decided to make was to cease writing for the Bride section, those posts will still be available for viewing, but I will no longer be contributing to this area regularly.
Upon examining the pieces over the last year, I realized three themes seemed to arise in most of the posts:
- Open and Honest Communication.
- Ask Questions.
- Prepare Ahead.
I stand firm in my belief that these three points are essential in conflict management, relationships, and life. However, what I do not want is for my writing to become predictable and redundant. After I noticed these three themes showing up in most of the posts I could not shake the thought of someone reading the blog and going, “Let me guess how this is going to end, communicate openly and honestly, ask questions, and prepare ahead.” I told you I overthink. While I still plan to contribute to the Girlfriends and Wives sections, I decided Pearls of Prudence needed a shake-up, another area to explore. The new section I am introducing, which I am writing in currently is titled YOU.
Photo by Matteo Vistocco on Unsplash
Humans can be very me focused. However, I feel we don’t spend a lot of time looking at ourselves through our own eyes. We derive the way we see ourselves through the lens of others. In addition to conflict management and relationships, there is another topic I am passionate about, and that is self-reflection, self-correction, and self-improvement. I have set many goals for myself throughout my life but there is one that has never changed, and that is to become the best version of myself possible. The thing is, this goal will never be accomplished. I believe no matter what, I can always do better and be better; but, the goal gives me something for which to strive. Many people that I’ve spoken to over the years do not believe people can change, but I disagree. I think people have the capacity to change, but it boils down to if they feel and think they should. People already change, just by living and experiencing life. Think back ten years ago are you the same? Probably not. In the You section, I will dedicate those posts to all subject matter surrounding how to see ourselves more clearly and how to become the best version of you through self-reflection, self-correction, and self-improvement.
The other changes that I want to point out. I will not write in the sections in a consistent pattern as I did the last year. Instead, I am going to try writing based on what topic area I feel most inspired by that week. Several times last year, I felt like the posts I wrote was forced because I was trying to stay faithful to the structure I laid out for myself. I noticed those posts received the least amount of interest. I do not want that to be the case for this next year. I will continue to keep to the schedule of writing for three weeks and taking a break in the forth.
You may have noticed the Pearls of Prudence site looks a little different. Now on the sidebar; there is a feature that says, “Suggest A Topic.” The feature will allow you the audience to give me topic suggestions, anonymously if you want, that you most want to read. Perhaps you are going through something in your relationship or personally, and are just looking for an outsider’s perspective, who knows, maybe someone out there is looking to hear about the same thing. You can also leave your name and e-mail if you would like me to correspond with you, but that is entirely up to you. Also, an awesome “Search” feature that allows you to look for topics previously covered has been added. My hope and goal going into Pearls of Prudence’s second chapter is to expand myself, and the writing a little more and see where a little less rigidness gets me.
Finally, I would like to thank you for all the support you have shown me in my first year of blogging for Pearls of Prudence; it has meant the world to me!