Preserve Retreat

A retreat is exactly what this girl needed.  And Preserve Retreat, by the BlogJam Atlantic team, was bang on.  Scenic setting at Oak Island Resort, blogging friends galore and stimulating discussions on all fronts made for an amazing weekend.

Since the first ever Blogjam, back 5 years ago, I’ve been a huge fan and do my best to be there.  This year, I didn’t think I was going to be able to swing it, but knew me AND my blog needed it more than ever.  I also have FOMO and the thought of so many of my blogging buddies hanging out for an entire weekend without me, well, the FOMO was strong!  But a special thanks goes out to a few people who ensured I was there, you know who you are and I truly appreciate your understanding and generosity!!!

So, what did I gain from being at Preserve Retreat?  Well, through so many of the incredible speakers, I took a long, hard look at myself, my blog and who my audience is and how I am serving them.  The deep questions were asked, the hard topics handled so expertly well and the environment was a safe and welcoming one. During the breaks, so much more discussion happened, and different perspectives shared.   It always amazes me how you can put a group of people in a room, the speaker gets up, does their thing and everyone’s take-away is different.  We hear what we need to hear, to force us out of our own box, the ruts we’ve been stuck in or to get that kick in the butt we need.

Of course, like always, these bloggers fill my cup.  They support and inspire me, they challenge me and are there for me.  Being surrounded by the fierce bloggers I am privileged enough to call friends, I am safe to ask myself why am I doing this?  Is it still relevant? What am I offering?  What do I want to be known for?  What is working, what isn’t?  What do I want from this blog? Do I still even want to blog? All the things.  I have some answers.  And I am still seeking other answers.

It’s common to hear the question being asked, ‘What is your WHY?’ In fact, in our conference room, there was even a large poster we could add our WHY to.  I didn’t.  I have discovered I lost my WHY.  Or maybe I never knew it in the first place.  So, I’ve been doing some soul searching and looking at Farm Fresh and wondering why it still exists.  You may notice that I took a blogging break.  All I’ll say about it is that it is complicated.  But what I learned from that was that my soul does crave to write and to share and to connect.  What that means for the future, I can’t say I know yet.  But know that I will be writing more posts and sharing more pictures because that’s what I love to do.

Preserve was so much of what I needed and on the level I needed, I wasn’t looking for information on SEO or how to grow my Insta following.  I needed to look at my blog and myself and figure shit out.  I still don’t have it all figured out but I think I’m on the right track.  I’m not typically a note taker at these events.  But I left with pages of notes, things I want to remember, things I want to share and explore more.

Thank you for sticking around even when I couldn’t.  Thanks for checking in when you saw the long pause.  Thank you for letting me share bits and pieces of life through this itty bitty corner of the world.

Warmly,

Lori

PS Photos by the talented Michelle Doucette, logo by the Preserve team