Of all the stories I have ever shared through blogging, there is one story I have not yet told—the story of how the blog came to be in the first place. Brandon and I have been sharing our stories of faith, family, and values through Unbinded Life, but before that, was Core Truths.
I started the Core Truths blog in 2018 as a way for me to connect and share stories with other women and moms. But the dream to share through blogging began years earlier. In fact, I still remember exactly when and where I was when I said out loud for the first time, “I want to start a blog.”
The year was 2016, and I was a full-time stay-at-home mom. The kids ranged in ages from 2 to 15 years old. I had resigned from teaching one year earlier, and I had a peace within me that I would not return to the classroom, but I had not yet landed on what I was going to do next. I was happy staying home with the kids, and I had realized that’s what I had always yearned to be able to do. But even with the satisfaction of giving my full time and attention to our family at home, there was a tugging at my heart—of something I was meant to be doing.
For years I had been writing in various notebooks. I guess it was a sort of journaling, but I always imagined it was intended for some audience. Maybe there was some musing from my day that another mom might find a good laugh; maybe there was some big a-ha that would be helpful for a mom of younger kids; maybe there was some parenting trial I had come through that could offer some hope to someone else. I wrote and I wrote and I wrote. And I didn’t know why. I longed and I longed and I longed. But I didn’t know for what.
In 2016, my daughter’s friend’s mom posted on social media that she was offering a complimentary life coaching session to anyone who was interested. To be honest, I had no idea what life coaching was or what a session would entail. But I thought this mom was cool and was someone I enjoyed to be around. So, since she was offering, I decided to take her up on it. If nothing else, it would be a chance for me to have an uninterrupted conversation with a like-minded person.
And that’s when it happened. It was in that one-hour session together, with her looking into my eyes from across a table at Starbucks, that she asked the one question that led to my singular answer. All she had to ask was, “What do you want to do?”
It was my answer to that question that would change everything. Because deep down in my heart, in a place that hides things that don’t get said out loud, was a dream that I was harboring. A dream that I was keeping safe where I didn’t have to get uncomfortable and ever let it out. When I had the chance to think about what I really wanted and to say that answer out loud—I said, “I want to start a blog.”
At the time, I didn’t read blogs or know how to start one or even know what to do with one, but I knew I had stories and I knew I wanted to share them. I knew there was value in people connecting over the joys and pains that bind us at our very core.
I remember both the freedom and the fear I felt saying it out loud. And I remember, so vividly, what she asked me next: “So, what are you going to do now?”
She didn’t laugh. She didn’t tell me not to. She didn’t ask me what I know about it. She simply wanted to know what I was going to do next.
What I did next is the story of two more years. Two more years of writing in notebooks, but this time with a hope of one day putting it out into the world. Two more years of having this dream, but this time finding the courage to tell others about it. Two more years of wanting to be a blogger, but this time learning how I could do it.
Anytime I would get bogged down in the fear of “what ifs,” I would think back to that one coaching session and ask myself, “what are you going to do now?”
What I did was tell Brandon and my closest friends. This led to Brandon being able to encourage me to do what I wanted to do. This led to one friend helping me initially name the blog. This led to another friend giving me a book about how to start a blog. And another friend telling me to write like she and I are talking over a cup of coffee. By simply saying my dream out loud, there were plenty of people around to support me.
The other thing I did was pick up some remote part-time contract work. See, I was writing in notebooks because I didn’t have a laptop or computer at the time. I always had a work laptop and no need for a personal one. But that part-time work allowed me to buy the laptop and to finally get out of just writing in notebooks. It allowed me to get rid of my excuse.
So finally, in 2018, I created a free blogging account, which I learned how to do from the book my friend gave me. And then I drafted my first blog post—and then I clicked “publish.” While I had zero followers and absolutely no one outside of my immediate family knew I did it, it was still one of the scariest things I have ever done!
But the next week, I found the courage and I did that again, and this time I shared it with a few friends.
The next week I did it again, and Brandon, not allowing my fear to get in the way, asked if he could share it on social media.
From there, I published another post, and then another, and Brandon and I continued to share them on social media. After just one month of blogging, my latest post at the time had been read by over 2,000 readers!
I knew then and I know now that I tapped into what my heart had been begging me to do. I wanted to share and to connect and to offer compassion and hope. By sharing my writings, I was doing that and the hope and connection was coming back to me tenfold.
Since then, our message and our audience has evolved. Throughout all of this, Brandon and I saw the power in connecting with others and knew it was time for us to expand our story. Together, we wanted to share with moms and dads, husbands and wives, those just starting out and those ready for the next step. So a year-and-a-half after starting Core Truths, we partnered together on the blog, rebranded it to Unbinded Life, and have been sharing our journey of living a life aligned to our values ever since.
Looking back, I am more grateful than ever for the day I sat across from a life coach who dared to ask me, “What do you want to do?” and then “What are you going to do now?” These two questions have guided me out of my worst fears and my biggest excuses. They continue to challenge me and have helped me do more than I had ever thought was possible.
The truth is, the world needs more of what we have to offer. The truth is, our gifts are meant to be shared.
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