Thursday, March 24, 2011

No Niche

I'm not particularly funny.
I don't have a special talent.
I've been in the middle of the pack for most things I have tried or joined in my life.

My interests vary and are not specific to one thing. I love scrapbooking, I enjoy gardening, photography, and decorating. I like crafts. I am a pretty good parent. I enjoy the field of education with regards to my career, but have completely embraced full-time parenting/house-wifeness and could picture doing it long term. I like to think of ways to make holidays special. And I like to entertain.

That would be the range of topics that I read about daily, a wide variety that appeals to my deficient attention span.

I've been reading a ton lately on design and home updates because it's what my focus has been lately. We have been trying to get our house here organized and are trying to achieve that *permanent residence* feeling that it had been lacking.

When I read about others' accomplishments, I'm amazed at their energy and talents for the things they are trying to achieve.

I think I'm somewhat lacking in the energy and talent area of my life. I wonder sometimes if the reading that I do helps to motivate me or helps me to feel lacking.

I really enjoy a good sit with a cup of tea and a good book. Even my taste in books is pretty mild. I enjoy a fiction novel written about friends/family, but do not enjoy suspense, mystery, drama, or anything that's too sad. I like chick-lit. Light, funny, and happily ended. Throw in some non-fiction that references the interests mentioned above and you've pretty much got the range of my reading list.

I wonder sometimes if this makes me shallow? We drove to a fun outing with some new friends a few weeks ago and I almost felt rebellious as I voiced my dislike for anything scary, suspenseful or violent (she was a fast-driving, zombie movie loving, active woman). I could feel her rolling her eyes from the front seat.

I am vanilla, which also happens to be my favorite scent and flavor.

I have decided to be okay with that. I just don't know where that leaves me with this site. This site where I've enjoyed sharing, writing, and rambling. Vanilla is fine. But where does that leave one's blog? Maybe I should rename it Vanilla Mom.

Best to think a bit more on this. I'm just not sure at this point.

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8 comments:

Jenifer said...

You made me smile! I always assume everyone else is more interesting, cultured, well-read, athletic (that would not be too hard) and fashionable than me some days. And most of it is probably true to some extent. I suppose that makes me vanilla too!

The thing is there is nothing wrong with vanilla. There is room for everyone to be who they are meant to be. You were not meant to be a skydiving, mountain climbing, vampire loving (insert name of exotic ice cream flavour) person.

This does not make you shallow, because if it does then I must shallow too and I am not buying it. We are who we are and if some define it as Wonder bread and boring so be it.

Nik-Nak said...

Oh wow, it's like you were writing this about me! Sometimes I feel like the ONLY thing I'm good at is being a mom and then I stop and think, "Well, that kind of blows since that means it's never about me."

And then I have to stop, do exactly what you did, and write out my likes, what I'm good at, and remind myself that everything matters. Every single thing.

Oh, and I love vanilla as well =)

Wrath Of Mom said...

You are being too hard on yourself. You are amazing and wonderful and you do have talents & skills & unique qualities that set you apart from others. One of the reasons I stay away from facebook (& evenn when there haven't friended any former classmates) is because I know that I'll only wind up feeling poorly about my perfectly lovely, perfectly happy, small-scale life.

I love chick-lit! It's very relateable (is that a real word? Because blogger's spellcheck doesn't agree) to my own life. And I can't stand zombie or vampire stories.

Jenifer said...

Ok I am back...this has made me think all afternoon and I have to agree with Nan maybe it is a bit about being too hard on ourselves. It is interesting to me that we try to define ourselves by where we stand in the pack. I would have to say your unique skill is making me think about all this!

Oh, and I don't do zombies, vampires or any other type of horror at all.

Melanie D. said...

I promise I didn't write this to force you guys into a pep talk! :-) But thanks anyways for your kind words. I just feel sometimes like I really don't know WHY I write here. When so many people seem to know exactly what they are doing. I'm just a rambling, meandering non-niche blogger! Who cannot think of a new name for the stinking site!!

Sarah said...

I actually really like Vanilla Mom as a site name!
And when I'm having days of feeling like I'm boring and uninteresting (which are PLENTY) I try to remember something I heard another mom say once (paraphrasing here, obv:) "Nice is really overrated in this culture. Just being a really nice person is a rare commodity, and so undervalued. So I'm just trying to be as nice as I can without being a doormat, and to raise some really NICE kids. And that's just fine with me."
I think there was a lot of truth and wisdom in that. You don't have to be fierce and feisty and risk-taking and fast-talking and drink-downing if that just isn't who you are! Just being nice is great too! We need some of those around!

Jen said...

This made me smile also - I found myself thinking something very similar earlier this week, wondering if the books I select to read and the magazines I subscribe to end up bringing me down sometimes. I'm always falling for all these great ideas, only to realize I don't have the time, energy or skill to actually pull it all off.

I highly recommend an hour of reality TV to boost that self-esteem right back up! Ha ha.

Aliki2006 said...

I know you don't want a pep talk, but to me you have wonderful talents and who you are just shines off the web page when I read! I wish I knew you in real life--I'd love to sip a cup of tea with you!