WHAT'S THE STORY?

Goodies from the Blogs and PR (Perth) Meet and Greet

As a journalist, freelance writer and book lover, I know the value of the saying, “Everybody has a story”. My favourite jobs, while out and about working for a community newspaper, were interviewing ordinary people about their lives. You could pass these people in the street and not know that they had hidden talents, a misunderstood illness, incredible adventures, tragic pasts, or had overcome challenges that would best many of us.

I was reminded of this last week when I chatted with Bob, a regular at the arts centre where I work. Eighty-something Bob always has a smile for me and loves to stop by for a quick chat. The other day he jokingly said, “When’s it time for a cuppa?” … that’s code for, “Come and have a chat with me”. So I did. And I learnt about his childhood in London, when he wanted to go to high school but couldn’t because he had no uniform … and when he got a job doing bomb clean-up during the Blitz. He was happy to talk; I was happy to listen. Next time, he’s going to tell me about when he met his wife.

Today I went to a bloggers’ meet and greet in Perth (Blogs and PR) and while there, I asked a few people what they blogged about. What were their stories? Why did they blog? Turns out Suzanne from Precious Now was in a dark place after finding that her unborn baby had a serious heart defect and Down syndrome. A self-confessed perfectionist, she thought her “perfect life” had come to an end; blogging has helped her rediscover what inspires her – turns out her two gorgeous daughters are her main source of inspiration. After looking through Suzanne’s blog posts, I think we have a lot in common and I’m looking forward to reading more of her story.

Fiona from Imogen’s Angels blogs as part of her small home-made craft business. She’s named the business for her daughter who passed away at just six years old. I love the way she worded this on her blog: “a girl who was craft crazy who now lives in the sky with the other angels and spends time spreading the craft love around”. When Imogen was fighting childhood cancer she loved craft of all sorts – Fiona credits her beloved angel as the inspiration behind her business.

I didn’t get to talk to Abbie but her face lit up with a radiant smile as she patted her baby bump and introduced her blog, The Truth Behind the Glow. Cie from Pathetic to Pinup and I have “met” on Twitter, so it was nice to put a face to name – her story is about getting her self-confidence back and I know it’ll strike a chord for many.

There wasn’t time to hear everybody’s story. And I don’t know the names of all the blogs attached to the lovely women I nearly met/waved at/smiled at so I can’t share snippets of their stories or links to their blogs. What I can say is that behind each one, there is a story, whether inspirational, motivational, informational, spiritual or philosophical. If you, like me, love hearing others’ stories, I encourage you to have a read of the blogs I’ve mentioned – maybe one of them will resonate with you. Maybe one will inspire you, motivate you or just make you laugh.

Here are the other blogs from today’s Meet and Greet I do have links for:

• Little Bento
• Parental Parody
• Easy Toddler Food
• Modern Nomads With Kids
• Teapots & Tractors
• A Spoonful of Sugar
• Because Everything Counts
• The Home She Made
• Sew is Life
• The Aussie Hausfrau
• Living on a Latte
• Mummy Manifesto
• My Life in Mono
• Silly Mummy

Lastly here’s a quick shout out to those who donated the treats in our goody bags: Kambrook for the Little Chef’s ice-cream maker (yes, really!), 2Kool4Skool for the back-to-school packs, Suz E Bee Candles for the tealight candles, kidsberry for the lucky dips, Imogen’s Angels for the craft kit, Sunraysia for the bags and drinks, Name Your Dummy and Missy and Moo for the vouchers, Kiddie Kutters for the children’s knife and the Wembley Hotel for hosting us. I choose not to do sponsored posts, so this is merely a thank you for some treats I wasn’t expecting.

My challenge to you – take some time to listen to someone else’s story. Or to tell someone yours. You might be pleasantly surprised.