Your Blog, Your Life Story

When Lindsay put out a call for guest bloggers, I jumped on the opportunity. This is the first time I’ve ever written a guest post and quite frankly – I’m giddy over the whole thing. I have been looking for different writing opportunities and thought this would be a good opportunity to share something I think about almost daily: telling stories with food.

We are all food bloggers or food blog readers. And we post about our food regularly. Some of us do it for nutrition or fitness or both. Some of us are trying to lose weight, gain weight, forget about weight or just learn how to live intuitively. We all have different voices, various experiences and we just want to share it.

We’re living, we’re sharing and we’re learning. And whether you realize it – we are all writing our own life stories through our experiences with food.

Your Food Is Not Boring

From time to time, I see bloggers say they don’t want to post about their food because it was boring. Maybe they ate the same thing as yesterday. Or maybe they went to the same restaurant again (for me, it’s Panera). I catch myself doing this from time to time. No one wants to see that again, I think. But it’s part of your life story building. Maybe that leftover lasagna reminded you of the way your one friend would never touch leftovers (my friend, Cat, for example). Or maybe you had a really good conversation over your usual soup and sandwich. Either way, it’s important because it happened. It’s part of your journey, your collection of words. When you write it out (publicly), you then connect with other food bloggers or readers. It gives people a chance to relate, an opportunity for an “Ah-ha” moment where they say, I totally understand! I am starting to believe that no food is boring; I make it boring based on my attitude. So now I try and see the beauty in each dish – whether it’s the actual food itself or the experience that occurred while I was eating it.

You Can Write

Some people think they can’t write, and I say phoey to that. What I love about the blogs I read is that everyone has a different style. There are some people who love using words I’ve never heard (those ladies at Care to Eat). And there are some bloggers who seem to really and honestly have a good time with their writing (MizFit). No matter what your voice, you are still conveying a message (your story!). Your food is the vehicle, and your blog is the story keeper. Write how you want. People will come and read it because you’re the one telling this specific story.

Your Life is Interesting

Maybe this is a personal preference, but I love when bloggers and readers share tidbits about their life. To them, it can be one of the most mundane things in the world, and I find it really fascinating. Maybe this is the writer in me – always looking for characters. But either way, when I hear about someone’s encounter with city traffic or their visit to a friend’s house, I feel like I know them. I can relate to them. I understand their story. And I think all of those little experiences are what shapes your life story.

The Bottom Line

I think it’s safe to make the assumption that for anyone reading this, food affects your life in one way or another. With each meal comes a memory – no matter how large or small. Your food contains sustenance both for your body and your life. Through food you are telling a story that no one else can tell.

I guess I wrote this post to as a reminder to reflect upon your food once in a while. Don’t worry about nutrition facts for a moment or how long it’s going to take to cook that rice. Think about the way you feel standing at the stove, sitting at the table, chewing and swallowing. Look at what’s happening around you. Enjoy it. Remember it.

And above all – keep fueling yourself and continue living.

Dedicate

I just wanted to dedicate this post to Orangette, someone who’s really told a story with food – a story that many people can relate to and learn from.