Blogging Purpose

Well, talk about an unintended blogging break! Things around here are busy (as always!). I'm taking driver's ed. now, which is exciting but scary at the same time. :) I'm at the half way point now, though, so that's good. Other than that it's been skating, finishing up school, and...how could I forget...prom tomorrow! Can't wait. :)

I've been going through a bit of a blogging rut lately. What is the purpose of my blog? What is my 'voice'? Who is my audience? What do they want to see on the blog? What do I want to see on the blog? I've found that it's easy to get caught up in the 'I've got to get something published' craze. In an effort to post as often as possible, I sometimes loose sight of my real blogging goals. Even the quality of my posts go down hill. While at the moment I don't lack ideas of things to write, I feel burnt out, because the design/quality of my posts at the moment might not be what I think they deserve. Blurry pictures make me impatient, and my blog design seems to make everything I write seem outdated.

(via) Don't you just love Twain?

Now, I'm not just venting here. :) While thinking these things hasn't been comfortable, it has been productive. I think I've finally hit on what the purpose of my own blog is. Here's a snippet from my writer's notebook about the purpose of my blog:

To encourage intelligence. To live for something. To be a proud nerd. To have the confidence to be something outside of the norm. To practice my writing. To encourage hard work, the setting of goals, and unique interests. To celebrate tradition and values in our modern world. To celebrate the awesomeness of being an American girl. To realize that life is hard and sometimes even hurtful, but that God has given us the ability (and responsibility) to make things lovely for ourselves and others. To abolish the low expectations set by our modern society for teenagers.

I like clothes, but don't take enough pictures to be a fashion blog. I sew, but not enough for a sewing blog. I bake, but I don't create recipes. I read books and watch movies, but sometimes get burnt out writing reviews. What I do an awful lot of, though, is work to be everything I can be. I hit snags, I make mistakes, but I keep trying. As a 16 year-old, it seems stepping out of my close-knit group of friends means getting my opinions, religion, and even personality attacked. It's what comes with being 'in the world, but not of the world'.

(via) Come on, ladies! Let's live happy lives. :)

When trying to stand up for things, sometimes a deciding factor is the friend beside you. My hope for this blog is to let people know that there is at least one other person who thinks like them (actually, I can guarantee more...I'm friends with lots of awesome teens :)). I want to encourage and inspire the stepping up of leaders, defending your faith, and having informed opinions, all while enjoying this crazy, hectic, sometimes quite strange, but also quite lovely life that is being an American teenager.

For the next month and a half or so, I'm planning on working to update Young Yankee Lady's blog design, layout, 'about' pages, etc. I apologize if posting is a bit scattered during this, and I thank you all in advance for sticking around as I get my blogging feet back under me!

Writing this, I'm getting really excited about what's in store for Young Yankee Lady! I'm so happy to have you lovely followers, and hope my plans for this blog will be something useful and relevant to you! Speaking of which, I would absolutely love your feedback! Please leave a comment (or email me...address on the about page) about what you would like to see more of, as well as new ideas of things I haven't tried!

Thanks for reading! :)