When a Blog Isn't Helpful

On our recent doughnut day, we were debating the merits of various glaze recipes. We couldn't remember which one was our favorite. Finally we checked here at Home Joys and found a note from a couple years ago stating our favorite glaze recipe.

It was not the first time when I have had to check here to find the answer to some question. My faulty memory can not be relied upon. If I write it down, I may or may not know where to find it in the future. So the search function here on Home Joys, if it happens to be something I wrote about, comes in handy.

Several months ago I wanted to make yogurt. It had been a long time, probably a year, since I had made yogurt. I was glad I had written complete directions.

Last spring a friend asked me to make some artisan bread for a meal she was catering. It had been so long that I made anything besides very basic ordinary bread that I searched the archives to find some of the past notes on artisan breads I had written.

So this blog can be helpful for faltering memories.

But maybe there are things I don't want to remember.

Invariably, when I poke through the blog archives, I say, "I forgot that I did that. Why don't I do that any more?" It may be a forgotten recipe or the fact that I once used cloth diapers. If I'm not careful, I can feel the rush of guilt. If I know how, if I once did, why did I drop it? Why didn't I continue?

And then I wonder if any of you, when reading through Home Joys, think that I continue doing everything I have ever written about.

I don't.

I've written in the past about the false view of life a blog can give.

Sometimes I write about something that I try once. Sometimes I write about something that I do for a season. Sometimes I write about things that have become a habit, but could always be dropped in a new season.

For example, I once made my own homemade soap. I've never made it again. I'd like to. I actually purchased the supplies, but several years later, the supplies are untouched.

I already mentioned that I once made yogurt frequently, at least once a week, but now I rarely make yogurt. Maybe someday I'll resume yogurt making, but for now, it isn't in my normal routine.

And then there are things that I have continued. My family would revolt if I didn't make sourdough waffles every week. Kefir is easier to make than yogurt and continues in our kitchen. I have made my own laundry detergent for years since it is so simple and cleans well.

It is okay to stop doing things. For me right now that means using my dryer more often and buying disposable diapers. Just because I hung out cloth diapers five years ago doesn't mean I need to continue today.

I want Home Joys to be helpful to you. I do not ever want to inflict guilt or obligation on anyone. 

Not even myself.

Remember, whatever you read here could be a one-time or a seasonal event. Never, ever, ever have I done everything I write about all the time.

I still need to write a post sometime on What I Don't Do.

Do you have things you have done for a season but then quit? How do you handle the feeling of obligation to continue to do something just because you know how to do it?