Extended Version: Googling Life, Failure & Fear
EDITOR’S NOTE: I recently got an opportunity to write a guest blog for my friend Jenna. (It was my first guest post EVER and it was exciting to venture into another blogosphere!) She wisely put a word limit on me, so I had to edit the “novel” I’d already constructed in my head. I thought it would be fun to share the original post here, in its hyper-wordy entirety (of course).
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I’ve always wanted to write about “using” Google – keep up with my searches over a certain amount of time and blog about it. I thought it would be a unique and interesting peek behind my metaphorical curtain:
– What am I curious about?
– What’s on my mind?
– What interests me?
– What confuses me?
Leading up to this blog post, I had a few searches that I wanted to share. Two of these searches will simply give you a glimpse of the “real me” (a.k.a. help establish credibility) – the third example actually inspired this post.
SEARCH: “How do you teach a toddler to spit?”
I recently quit my job to become a full-time, stay-at-home dad. Even though my last stop in “the real world” was the most lucrative of my professional life – I just walked away. I realized that I wasn’t utilizing the gifts that God had blessed me with, so I decided to take a radical leap of faith.
Now, I raise my two-year-old son and I write.
My bio, that is scattered across the World Wide Web, describes it best: “I’m a retired stay-at-home dad, runner, volunteer & Rangers fan; I was called a marketing expert in my former life (blah), but now I just want to change the world one blog post at a time.”
I tell people that I’m retired because it seems more romantic. Not surprisingly, I’m busier now than I’ve ever been, and I have a newfound respect for stay-at-home parents.
Mainly because it’s a daily adventure in “figuring it out.”
Example: How do you teach a two year old to spit out the toothpaste and not swallow it?
Me: “Just spit!”
My son (devilishly smiling and staring at his reflection in the mirror): “Hi!”
I love it, though – mainly because staying at home with my son feels like I’m making a difference. I might have to turn to Google – my parental roadmap – from time to time, but who doesn’t?
Here are a couple other Google searches that have shed some light on daddyhood:
• Time management tips for new parents
• How do you know if your car seat is installed correctly?
• How often should a toddler poop?
SEARCH: “How to make money blogging?”
When I walked away from my last job, I decided I was going to write, write and write some more. So when my son is sleeping, I open my laptop and do just that.
I have no idea why it took me so long to figure out this is what I wanted to do. I guess it was the head trash of telling people: “I’m a writer.”
My brain would translate “that’s awesome” and “good for you” into:
– “What the hell do you write?”
– “OK, Stephen King!”
– “No seriously, what do you do for a living?”
Some of my family and close friends ask: “How do you make money doing that?” (I guess they’re worried about my wife and son starving to death.) It’s a valid question, but I just want to be a smartass and answer their question with a question: “Have you never purchased a book?”
There are no words to express the emotional upheaval you have shared. The unknown is truly fearful, the unexpected twice as much because we have no control over it.
I extend to you a sincere and heartfelt hand, as I say, “May next mother’s day be truly all that you and your family wish it to be, a family filled with love, togetherness, health and healing.