How Gun Violence and Politics have Changed the Way I Blog

I’ve had this blog post sitting in my drafts since May 26th, a day after the shooting in Noblesville, Indiana. Like many bloggers, writing is cathartic for me. So much so that I have lots of posts in my drafts section of my blog that never see the light of day. It’s like a little private diary for me. I thought this post would be the same; I never intended to publish it.

Why am I writing this?

I didn’t plan on publishing this post until yesterday when I realized I’ve been wanting to share these words with you for weeks. I want to get these words out on my blog so you will know what I stand for, because I truly believe that if we don’t stand for something, we will fall for anything. One of my favorite quotes, btw.

Why yesterday? Something trivial happened yesterday, yet it was the straw that broke the camel’s back for me. For months I’ve been questioning my role as a blogger and influencer. I love sharing tips to save money, and I am beyond blessed to have found a way to monetize my blog while sharing these tips with you. It’s truly a dream come true to get paid to blog and post on social media. However, monetizing hasn’t come easy. I work hard to grow my social media accounts and get my content out on social media. I pay for social media management help and I pay to be in mastermind groups like Bloggers Tell All. Much of my workday is spent figuring out how to grow my blog as a business. In fact, I spend more time growing my blog than I do actually blogging. I’m getting tired of the behind the scenes work.

I had just gotten to Starbucks yesterday when I checked my Instagram messages and saw that a fellow blogger called me out for unfollowing her. It’s a spammy, yet common, practice in the blogging world to follow, then unfollow people on social media. It’s a practice that I didn’t realize I was doing because I was paying for a Instagram management service. I hadn’t taken the time to actually figure out what the service was doing. I genuinely thought I was only unfollowing people that unfollowed me. I have since cancelled that account.

This blogger publicly shamed me on Instagram for that practice, and rightfully so. It was the moment that I finally realized that I am so over growing my social media accounts just to make money. It’s not important.

There are so many more important things going on in my life, and in the world. I don’t have time or energy to care about how many followers I have or if my business will grow if I do a click funnel on my site.

I make money blogging because I’m authentic, not because I have a nearly 10K Instagram followers. In fact, my micro-influencer blogging story was just featured by a huge blogger.

As an authentic person and blogger, I have to share my thoughts about how gun violence and the current political climate have changed the way I blog.

I’m not sure if it’s because I’m a mom, or if it’s because I’m human, but gun violence in America has had a huge impact on how I live and how I blog. I originally wrote this after a school shooting, but since then even more crazy things have happened in America. My heart is so heavy over the separation of immigrant children from their parents. I’m beyond disappointed in America.

It all started with the Las Vegas shooting for me. I think this one hit harder for me than the others because I was home nursing my new baby when I first heard the news. The mix of breastfeeding/ postpartum hormones combined with sleepless nights was not good for me. I’ve never been much of a cryer, I’ve even felt heartless and emotionless after similar incidents. But this one was different for me.

I won’t go off on a tangent about gun rights and politics. Everyone has their own opinions and that is fine and dandy. As a social liberal, fiscal conservative, registered Democrat who occasionally votes for Republicans, there is no way I want to start a political discussion on my blog. I personally don’t think that a money saving blog is the right platform to debate politics.

However, in light of the current political climate in America, I can’t help but take a long hard look at myself and how I choose to use my blog and social media influence. I’m not a big time blogger, but I do have a reach of 60k people a month, and I don’t take that lightly.

I want to use my influence to really help people, maybe even occasionally remind them to contact their representatives, instead of encouraging my followers to buy stuff they don’t need, even if it makes me money. I want my influence to make a positive impact.

How has all of this changed my blog?

Gun violence in the news has made me value my family more than ever. It’s a huge reminder that our lives can be taken from us in an instant.  It makes me want to live boldly and do good things in the world, not just share restaurant reviews and push products. I’m beginning to second guess my role as a blogger, and ponder how I can use my influence for positive change in society.

I don’t want to push products as an influencer or encourage you to give into consumerism. I’d rather share the importance of values and making a different in the world. I’d like to put more time and energy into my compost company or share real life tips that will help people save money so they can enjoy their lives a little more.

The problem is that as an influencer, this is way too idealistic. At the end of the day I make a living by sharing brands, products, and travel destinations that I love with my readers. In order to keep making money, I will keep promoting things.

That being said, I’m going to work harder to share information about brands and products that are aligned with my values. Take my Instagram post about Disney merchandise for example (click the link to see it on Instagram). I got that stupid bubble blower for free at Disney but there was no way I’d tell my readers to buy it. I truly believe it’s a waste of money. And at this point, I don’t care if Disney never invites me back for a media event for sharing a post like that.  The shootings have made me want to be even more candid with my followers about real life. I want to share that it is more important to place value on family and relationships than it is to waste money on new products or go on an overpriced vacation.

At the end of the day I want to go to bed knowing that I did something good for society, not just pushed products on my readers that they don’t need.

Let’s sum it all up

To sum it all up, nothing much has changed for you as a reader. This post is an opportunity for me to get all of this off my mind and to remind myself to put more time and energy into making money promoting good things in the world. There is so much good in this world. I want to share tips to help you enjoy it all on a budget. If I can make money promoting the good in the world then dreams really do come true.

If you are new here, you may be wondering what I do stand for. When it comes to this blog and what I promote, I stand for the following:

• eco-friendly and zero-waste products
• deals on products that make life easier
• minimalism
• affordable family travel
• easy family recipes
• fine dining at affordable prices
• food that is worth a high price tag
• ways to decrease food waste