Belonging Together.
The domain name I chose after much deliberation and conversations with Jenn has come to mean much more to me. I think about the implications of those two words and the intentional choice of “belonging” over “belong”.
Like thousands of other prospective adoptive parents I started a blog, “J+J+1”. My original motivation to write consistently withered in the face of home repair and deadlines to complete paperwork. By the time we flew to China I completed five entries. Five. I completed more than a dozen entries in the two weeks we spent in China. When we returned I kept writing. The more I wrote the more the blog name bothered me. Our daughter had a name.
The quest for a good, inexpensive domain name was on. After some flaccid attempts at humor (“The Writings of Baba” anyone?) the words “belonging together” came to me. I looked at the short list of possible site/domain names, rolling them around in my mind, contemplating the staying power and diversity. I figured I would become another “daddy blogger”, focused exclusively on parenting, with a particular focus on adoption via China. For a year that’s what I did. I wrote about my experiences as a new father and random thoughts on adoption.
The original Belonging Together header image.
Late last year I decided to expand Belonging Together’s theme and content. First there was the matter of the theme, or visual aspect of the site. My current WordPress theme (courtesy of StudioPress) was a necessity and a choice. A necessity because my previous theme, Standard, was no longer supported or updated. A choice because I wanted a new look for the new direction.
I can’t count the times I wanted to write about something unrelated to parenting/adoption/China and simply didn’t because it wouldn’t fit. The major exception was my 3 part post on the Johnson O’Connor aptitude testing (though it kinda does fall in the parenting category because I HIGHLY recommend it for parents and high school graduates unsure about their future). The thematic constraint was good for a while. The self-imposed restraint required focus and uncovered the hard truth about writing consistently; it’s hard work.
This year will be no different. The writing will be challenging at times (more likely most of the time) but having the freedom to write about anything that interests me should alleviate some of the difficulty.
Streamlined and simple; the new Belonging Together header.
It’s also my desire to publish more guest posts this year. I’ve already lined up the first of what I hope to be many posts from other writers on various topics of interest.
And art. I’m not sure if it’s a passing phase or a wellspring of untapped creativity, but I want to create visual art. Hopefully it will happen and this site can be a digital gallery of sorts.
If you’re interested in contributing to Belonging Together send me a post card, drop me a line, stating point of view…
Father/Daughter art project. Can you tell we had fun?
