I decided to start a blog.
welcome to my passion project!
Photo Credit: Ashley Zwick (@ashleyzwickphotography)
Have you ever had one of those ideas that you just cannot shake? No matter how many times you try to or how many people you hear say that it’s a bad idea. You just can’t stop thinking about it.
I’ve had the idea of starting a blog in the back of my mind for years. Building a community of people to share stories with and bring together through whatever good is left on the internet. The only problem I have run into is that I really don’t know if I have anything of quality to bring to the table. Let alone an audience that would actually read it.
What I realized was that readers come with time, and so do the adventures. I won’t truly know if I have anything of quality to bring to the table if I never bring it to the table, so here we are. I dove head first into the project about a year ago. I spent weeks trying to narrow down what I wanted the whole thing to be about. I built a website, bought a domain, and I have been slowly accumulating a library of halfway written posts to one day share with the world.
The blog name is a play on a nickname I’ve had since I was a kid. It speaks to my personality quite well (insert an awkward chuckle here). I have been referring to it more as The Maditude Blog Project. A project that will evolve as time goes on and something that can grow with me.
Its premise? A space to share ramblings and stories with the world as a way of bringing womxn together to inspire each other to try hard things, to share relatable experiences, celebrate adventures both big and small, and to share the good, the bad, the ugly, and the beautiful of being a womxn outside. I also have a background in forestry and natural resources management and hope to share stories from folks in these fields to get more young women and girls interested in a career in natural resources and build a community of people that can relate to the lifestyle of a seasonal employee.
But why?
Somewhere along the way I think we lost the whole idea of social media. In our overly connected lives, through our carefully curated Instagram feeds with attention grabbing headlines and perfectly planned photos, we lost touch with what it really means to stay connected. We share romanticized stories of our adventures focused on how other people will perceive us, if we have the best gear or golden hour photo.
I have never been that great at sticking to a “posting schedule” or sharing consistent content online. Hell, at the time of writing this I haven't posted to Instagram in nearly a year! Life gets in the way. I am out of service more often than I am in service and when I do share, my Facebook account is linked to Instagram so I can update family and friends at the same time. Efficiency. Social media to me is less about gaining a large audience but more about sharing life and the exciting things you’re getting up to. If people choose to follow along that’s great, but why pursue it?
The blog format was appealing because you can share stories easily while also sharing photos and having input from a lot of voices. A place where many people can share their stories, not just me. The Maditude Blog is being sculpted to share real life. To share Life Unfiltered. Real people sharing real stories that don’t sugar coat the not so perfect moments. Because let’s be honest, how often are our lives perfect?
The Life Unfiltered slogan/motto/phrase whatever we are calling it, is there mostly as a reminder that most of what we see online isn’t the full story and that comparing your life to filtered lives on social media just isn’t the best use of our brain power, time, and energy. The Maditude Blog is for sharing real life, with all the good, all the bad, all the ugly, and all the beautiful. Not every trip or adventure is perfect but each one is memorable. So why not share stories because we have them, because somewhere else out on the world wide web there is someone worried about having an experience like you’ve already had. By sharing these stories and our “imperfect” adventures we can break down the barriers holding people back from trying new things, hard things, scary things, or just anything.
The connection aspect of social media is great, and sharing relatable experiences with people all around the world brings us together. I crave more of that. More sharing stories that empower people to try hard things, stories that validate shared experiences, and stories that make social media feel like real people are actually behind the screen.
The blog format will hopefully be able to put these things together into one place. Longer form writing about all the nitty gritty details of adventures alongside photos to add depth to the story telling. Sharing stories about the brutal field days, early mornings and late nights on big endurance pushes, lessons we learn about ourselves while walking the dog, the weekend warrior tales, the post-work bike rides, or even just how the hell you are supposed to start planning a trip.
It’s a place to share relevant, relatable, goofy, and serious stories to make the outdoors a little less intimidating to people interested in getting outside and those of us that have been here for a while.
What’s Next?
What an excellent question!
I am not totally sure. I have a lot of halfway written posts and so many ideas on what else to write about. I know for the next few months I’ll post when I can while I continue to improve my written storytelling skills, I’ll reach out to friends, who will hopefully reach out to more friends, and build an inventory of stories to share with the world!
I ask that you come to this project with compassion and space to see the other perspectives of womxn in the outdoors. I hope this project encourages you to write about your experiences with adventures, the big and the small, and that you consider sharing your stories!
Thanks for taking the time to learn more about The Maditude Blog project, if you want to stay updated on what's going on in my world, you can follow me on Instagram and I’ll see you around!
Cover photo: Ashley Zwick (@ashleyzwickphotography)
