I started blogging in 2005. Back then I wrote, I mean really wrote, long posts that I thought might get me "noticed" and jump start a career as a freelance writer. I read and commented on a handful of blogs. Back then, it seemed like there were only a handful of blogs.
It wasn't until I attended BlogHer07 that I really understood blogs as part of a larger conversation, blogs as community. It wasn't until my first BlogHer that I understood the larger impact, the difference we can make when we share our stories out loud online.
Our stories are not always neat, pretty or pleasing, but they are real. At least, the best ones are. That's what I tell these fledgling bloggers, at any rate.
As I got more involved in the larger community and made more connections, I wound up in unexpected place (hello, Club Med?).
Which brings me to this surprising news, the reason I almost fainted at the Housewares Show:
I am writing from a lovely hotel room in downtown Washington, DC. I was brought here by Consumers Union* because tomorrow I will (gulp) be speaking at a press event with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi on the topic of health care reform.
This is what a mommyblogger can do; this is the power of sharing your story out loud, online.
Me, Speaker Pelosi, health care reform for Americans. Oh. My. Even as I see the words appear on my screen, I have a hard time believing this is real and true.
I've got work to finish up tonight and a big, if not surreal, day ahead tomorrow. Wish me luck!
Thanks to Amy and MJ for connecting me with the CU folks back in early 2008.
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