12 November, 2019

Nine years of No Kidding in NZ

I don't usually write an annual post marking the anniversary of starting this blog, but this year it feels right. It has been nine years today since I started. I'd been writing elsewhere, though for much of that time it had been in a more formal and advisory capacity, but the focus was very much on those who were still trying, rather than those of us who were well into our No Kidding lives. Hence, No Kidding in NZ.

It has been a fascinating time for me. I'd already learned so much about myself, because I had already been through the process of (in this order) loss, then infertility, learning I would never have children, and last, but never least, learning to adjust to the rest of my life without children. I've learned a lot about myself, and a lot about others. I've made friends, and know of one person I've upset (a parenting after infertility blogger). I've considered issues I may never have addressed without the blog, and it's made me a better person. And I thank you for that.

Best of all, I've seen people come to this blog raw and grieving, crying out for help, and sometimes angry at the world, who have not only survived, but thrived. Who have gone through the infertility waiting room door I wrote about here, and who have walked the separate way I wrote about here and here, and found the joy and the beauty of that path. They know they're not alone, and they are or know they will soon be okay. Like us all.

I know by now, after nine years of only writing about infertility and life without children here, that there is little I can say that is new. Maybe I never said anything new! But as a comment from a few years ago just reminded me, it is important to keep talking about these issues, both from my perspective now, and way back when it was new and raw. I plan to keep doing this, and to keep looking at issues and thinking about them from a No Kidding point of view.

Oh, and just in case you're wondering, whatever happens in the next year, I definitely want to get to my ten year blogging anniversary.

7 comments:

  1. dear Mali, happy blogoversary! I am so happy that you started writing your blog and that you are still writing. Your writing has helped so many of us from all around the world!

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  2. Happy blogoversary! You've been such an inspiration & support in this corner of our community over the past 9 years... and I hope you will keep blogging much longer than this time next year! ;)

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  3. Happy blogoversary! I am filled with gratitude for what you say, and the nuances you add to things said before. I have passed your blog on to friends who find themselves either on the No Kidding path or considering it, and it has been helpful to them (and to me). You were a bright light in a very dark time for me, and I'm sure countless others, and I so value your space on the internet. Here's to 9 more years at least! :)

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  4. Happy Blogoversary!! Thank you for all of your support through your blog. I can't even put into words how much you've helped me. Thank you!!! <3

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  5. Happiest of blogoversaries. I am so glad you're writing.

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  6. Happy blogoversary, Mali! I continue to learn so much from your journey toward wholeness, and so much of it is relevant to finding my way through my own stuff. I am grateful to share the ALI blogosphere with you <3.

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  7. Dear Mali, congratulations on you blogoversary! I'm very glad you write here; you showed me the way, and for this I can't be grateful enough :-)

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