A year ago this week, I launched this site, MomsWellbeing.com. What you wouldn’t know, is three years prior to the launch, the idea to start this site entered my mind. In between finishing work for the day and going to pick up my daughters from school and bring them to piano lessons and dance, I knew I had to start the site. I called my husband Jim and insisted he secure the domain name for me at his next break, because I would have no time to do so taking care of the girls. I don’t know if its ever happened to you, but when I get an idea for something that feels right, I often have to start right then and there. I didn’t want to wait until the evening because I know how the evening routines goes in my home, something else would inevitably take my attention. I needed accountability. The phone call with my husband was the first step on this journey of creating MomsWellBeing.
Prior to launching the site I spent months developing content, choosing the visuals and battling self-doubt. I often asked myself; Am I a good enough writer? Do I really have what it takes to commit to the time and energy needed to maintain the site? Will I have enough material to write about? What if no one reads what I write?
What if, what if, what if.
And then one day, I said to myself, forget the what ifs, this is a dream that started in your heart, just to it. I immersed myself in writing and deciding what I wanted to have on the site. I’d get up early in the morning or stay up late, developing the content. Then came the time to get feedback. So I shared the content of the site with my beloved writer’s group. Collectively and individually, an amazing group of women, who share a passion for writing and supporting one another, and who can give objective feedback, needed feedback, even if the feedback is difficult to hear. At this one meeting prior to launch, I shared my writing. Then I listened to the feedback. I started to cry. Not for lack of support or negative feedback rather, they gave me suggestions on how to improve my writing. I had been writing in a distant way; I was playing it safe with my writing. I went home and for the next month, revised and allowed myself to write the way I wanted to write, a shift to trusting myself.
And then a year ago this week, I launched the site. I wrote and posted information and to my relief, people found MomsWellBeing and continued to return.
A year later, the what ifs are there but not nearly as pronounced. I have learned the process of writing and creating is very similar to parenting; there are moments of stress, happiness, self-doubt, worry, uncertainty, and eventually earned wisdom and confidence.
I am humbled and touched that information at the site here is read by people across the globe seeking support, information and receiving comfort and hope. I am so grateful for the support of family, friends, my beloved writers group and especially the readers of the site, who find MomsWellbeing and return for encouragement, inspiration and support. I am so touched to hear stories of encouragement, comfort and relief from the posts and information on this site. Thank you.
Finally, I am excited to announce I have been asked be a contributing writer at Mothering.com. Mothering was a magazine that started in 1976 and ended print publication in 2011, shifting to an online magazine and community forum. It is thrilling to be a writer for the site as Mothering has been a presence throughout my life; first as a girl, my mother read it, as a babysitter it was in the homes of the children I babysat, and as a new mom as valuable resource. My first article, can be found by clicking on the title: Enjoying The Little Things When There Is So Much To Do or by visiting Mothering.com.
© Copyright Dr. Claire Nicogossian 2015
Congratulations! So worth going after our ideas!
Thank you Leah. What a year it has been. So true-following our dreams.
I remember that day in the writer’s group – can’t believe it was a year ago! And look at the courage and heart that have followed! So happy for your achievements and all the moms you have inspired – we needed your message, Claire – THANK YOU!!
Thank you Tracy for your kind words and ongoing encouragement and support. I am so blessed to have such wonderful women in my life.
SO happy for you!! You are such an inspiration!