For quite a while now, I’ve been digging into memories; my own little mind-field of “aha” moments. Honestly? It’s a joy this week to step away from that and have a little fun!
There has been a challenge coursing through the blogosphere, and retired teacher, writer and friend Pete Springer just tagged myself and others “It,” and luckily, I am not referencing the creepy clown creature from Stephen King. (Hey, it’s October, so I’m running with it.)
Here is Pete’s site:
https://petespringerauthor.wordpress.com/
It was a fun exercise to answer a few questions:
How did you come up with your blog name?
For me, “Leaving the Door Open” overlapped several categories. First, I wanted a well-known phrase for readers. It was possible that it would be easier to remember and I was also leaving the door open for readers to wander in as well as to share their own stories.
This is because when I started the blog, it had quite a different intent. I wanted to share actual stories about real aging parent issues such as when to encourage a parent to give up driving, etc. These were issues my mother was going through. I both requested and hoped that readers would send me their own true stories and I could build a “go-to” site for people looking for suggestions and support. Based on a combination of not getting traction and facing an almost year-long illness, the blog changed directions.
But I truly had to laugh when one story I would end up writing about was when my mother continued to lock the screen door to her apartment. We had keys to the front door which we couldn’t use if we couldn’t get past the screen door! We asked her repeatedly to help us by leaving the door open.
I have a funny side story regarding the title, and then I promise I’ll move on.
I started the blog in the spring of 2019. In August, 2021, I experienced an enormous spike in views and visitors. (For my non-blogger followers, we can check daily and monthly stats on both the number of views and which pages they viewed.)
I was thinking “what the heck?” as it reached over 1.2k hits in a brief time span. I *think* I finally figured it out. Bruno Mars (yes, that Bruno Mars) was nominated for a Grammy August 12th with another group he formed named Silk Sonic. They had a record-breaking hit off of their debut album. The title is “Leave the Door Open.” I think a lot of searching was going on for a few days! Imagine their confusion reaching a tiny little blog with stories about my mother. This still makes me laugh.
If your blog was a person (fiction or real), who would it be?
Well, as I referenced, the blog’s original focus was my mother and her deepening aging issues, so I would say Gretchen for the first year. But, it is totally natural to develop and my writing shifted to predominantly memoir, thus shifting to me.
What helps you create new content if you feel like you need some inspiration?
I guess the first point I would like to share here is that it is no accident I post every other Thursday. Many, many (!) successful bloggers create content two or three times a week. Truly, I don’t know how they do it. I need some built-in time to wait for inspiration to hit. So, my first answer is time.
Also, I am thankful for my sense of curiosity and observant nature. This drove me to become a free-lance reporter for a chain of local newspapers in Chicagoland all those years ago. When something catches my attention, I can’t help but to explore it; find answers. So, I also turn to my curiosity to find that story. And like most of us, our own daily lives provide all kinds of inspiration.
Is there anyone you would like to collaborate with?
I have done one collaboration (or Q&A) I guess with popular blogger D.G. Kaye. She had a Spiritual Series which included one post about Intuition. Since I feel like I am intuitive myself, I had been eager to learn more. I enjoyed the experience. Here is that post:
https://leavingthedooropen.com/2023/04/27/talking-intuition-with-d-g-kaye/
I am open to collaborations in the future, as long as it is a topic in which I am familiar enough with to feel like I have something to contribute. These might include my experiences with cancer, helping an elderly parent or exploring women’s issues. I’m also a pop culture nut. These are just off the top of my head.
Is there anything more you wish you had or would like to learn as a blogger?
I wish I had a better working knowledge of customizing a site. I like my site well enough, but I recognize it is the first impression of what I’m offering when new visitors arrive. For those not familiar, WordPress offers “formatted platforms”, which is very helpful, but then a user is stuck with certain fonts to choose from and headings and placements of links, photos etc. on the base home page the “builders” created. It can get a little frustrating. I am not tech-savvy enough to “fine-tune” on my own.
I would also love to have a book to promote, which would not only increase the number of visitors and followers, but I’ve also witnessed how bloggers really enjoy interacting with each other by offering helpful reviews and comments between them when a new book from anyone launches. It would be nice to be more of a part of that. (Okay, I’ll get on that.)
Do you have a specific style of blogging?
Hmm. I am hopelessly attached to a strong narrative. I HAVE to tell a story from start to finish. If I’m lucky, I can fold in some interesting facts (which appeases that “reporting” side) but it is still a story. I think another part of my style is keeping it real.
And so, the last part of the challenge is to, well, challenge others. And as Pete mentioned, if you are not feeling it, that is totally cool. Blogging is supposed to be fun. My five include Victoria Ponders, https://victoriaponders.com/ Marian Beaman, https://marianbeaman.com Miriam Hurdle, https://theshowersofblessings.com Pooja, https://lifesfinewhine.ca/ and Ritish Sharma, https://theblogera.com
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