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| Anya from Older Single Mum |
Most importantly, she discusses the feeling of a friendly community which develops – where intelligent, like minded people come together and support one another – keeping each other company through the days, weeks, months or years, for a laugh or, sometimes, for a more serious purpose.
Her shyness is apparent – and readily admitted to – but anyone who reads her blog might be surprised by this. We like her common sense, saying it as it is approach to any manner of a subject she shares with us and she doesn’t let us down in her book.
Her voice of calm and reason throughout it comes as a welcome relief in what has become a rather frenetic field. It is bang up to date and she is as generous with her tips for blogging as she is her nods for blogs. Clearly, being able to write as she pleases – as opposed to being restricted by the limitations imposed upon her for paid work – suits her and the depth of her naturally rather jolly personality shines through.
Her confidence has built, as has her creativity and she has become Blogging Royalty five years on. She encourages us all to blog because it helps to clarify thoughts, release things that are bothering us i.e. to get things off our chest with a good old fashioned rant about them and, fundamentally, apart from anything else, blogging ‘gives you stuff back by the bucketload.’
It has been her salvation and, now, giving us the benefits of her rather extensive experience, for those of us quite involved, but sometimes intimidated by those more forceful and competitive than ourselves, she gently reminds us to not be swayed, but to remain and maintain an authority over our own blogs.
I was first introduced to Ellen when she was allocated as my ‘Big Sister’ through BritMums. Some of us were voluntarily paired up as novices and ‘old hands’ and she has been a great guide to learn from and lean on occasionally. She also took the trouble, despite her hectic schedule to pen a post about her days as a Single Mum as part of a series I was running over on my comparatively tiny little blog. This is the measure of the woman.
She likes to do good and taking the trouble to write this book – which naturally strays from her normal objectivism – will only form part of that. It is typical of her to use her muscle trying to help others – perhaps isolated or subjected to other personal circumtances – to take control of at least this area of their lives and not to underestimate the healing power of an on-line network. I believe she will be ‘Speaking’ to this effect at the BritMums Live conference in June.
Ellen’s book – Blogging for Happiness – is not only ‘A guide to improving positive mental health (and wealth) from your blog,’ it is a thoroughly recommended, impressive (but relaxing!) read.
Thank you very much.