I’ve never responded to a blogging prompt before, but who can resist an invitation from a dear friend who tagged me in?
The delightful Melanie McGauran wrote a beautiful post recently, prompted – literally, by the charming Pete Springer who invited Melanie to peel back the layers and tell us about her blogging life. It’s such a terrific piece – take a look!
Melanie’s lovely post inspired me to participate. I mean…it was only six questions and as I began to mull my responses, in my head, I decided to sit down at the keyboard and the answers flew out. Thank you again, Melanie, for tagging me. I’ve learned. Introspection is a good thing, and your outreach slowed me down. Gave me the best kind of pause. In a roundabout way, I think each of my answers contribute to my overarching ‘why’ and gee whiz. That’s good for all sorts of reasons. Especially for maintaining motivation and momentum when we juggle writing with all the things in life. Thank you, my friend.
Here we go with my responses!
1.How did you come up with your blog name?
This is such a good question. Early on I worried about using my full name in the blog title, but it didn’t take long for me to realize I would be a pretty open book based on what I wrote. Why worry about the name of the blog? I landed on “Victoria Ponders” because I already had a website for my consulting business, www.atkinsongroupsolutions.com and wanted to keep my blog separate in title. But before long, I was linking from the business site to my WP site and vice versa. Using a separate title, like “Victoria Ponders” was unnecessary. But given what I’ve heard from others about changing blog names and the hassles involved, I’ve avoided making any changes, naming-wise because “ponders” is a verb that describes me well! But once more, let me say: My last name is not Ponders, LOL. 😉
2. If your blog was a person (fiction or real), who would it be?
I admire so many thinkers, feelers, writers and creative types…this is a tough question. Maybe my blog would be more pet than person? Snoopy, maybe? When I was growing up, Peanuts and Snoopy were pretty hot stuff. I loved Snoopy for his smarts and low-key behavior. He didn’t need to speak but he had everyone’s number. Saw everything without commentary, except for delicious giggles. Snoopy knew how to retreat to his doghouse and do his own thing. Pretending to be a WWI flying ace over Europe…especially France. Decorating for holidays his way. I was enchanted. The Snoopster was my favorite cartoon hero because of his heart. All of that…plus I’m a dog lover. Beagles, especially: Mitten, Ginger, Phaedra to name three that I loved growing up. Dogs invite us in, encourage us to slow down and mellow out. I hope my blog is a restorative place. Safe and warm and welcoming. Like your favorite puppy? 😁
3. What helps you create new content if you feel like you need some inspiration?
I lean into family life for inspiration. I feel fortunate for the life I have and understand the power of kindness. I’ve received it when I needed it the most and remember to look for the good in every day. Moment by moment. For me, kindness conjures writing inspiration.
Like most writers, I keep a ‘tickler file’ of ideas and use the notes app on my phone to capture thoughts, phrases, scenes from daily life. I have endless inspo from my amazing sister Lisa who is brilliant in so many ways despite her cognitive and physical disabilities. She keeps me humble. And grateful.
4. Is there anyone you would like to collaborate with?
Everyone? I love partnering with others and I’m a lucky duck because Wynne Leon and I get to work with amazing writers, like Brian Hannon in our Sharing the Heart of the Matter blog. We’re approaching our two-year anniversary, which is amazing. Over 450 posts and 15,0000 comments focusing on wellness, positivity, community and storytelling. Wynne and I are always open to more collaborations – both in the HoTM (Heart of the Matter) blog and podcast. Ideas are welcome.
On my own blog, I find myself enjoying the interaction with fellow authors and those who are in-progress, working on books. I love the generosity of the WP community in supporting writers on the runway to authorship. It can feel overwhelming. Daunting. But cheerleaders and encouragers abound. I’ve been blogging on Victoria Ponders for a little more than two years and have written over 400 posts, creating hundreds of images to go along with written content. Between Victoria Ponders and Heart of the Matter I’ve created nearly 1500 designs in Canva to promote our posts on LinkedIn, IG, Twitter and FB. I love that aspect of blogging, too, and I’m entirely enamored and inspired by our friend Alegria who has the most amazing aesthetic quality to her work. If you missed her recent post on HoTM, take a look. And oof! Dave Williams? He writes AND illustrates, and the word enchanting comes to mind when I think about his endless creative capacity.
5. Is there anything more you wish you had or would like to learn as a blogger?
I’m not very focused on followers/subscribers or metrics and tend to ignore the “stats” because I favor interaction over numericals. Lively comments and spirited fun make my day in blogging land. The whole SEO business of optimizing and influencing and finding ways to make money while blogging is interesting to read about but I’m not motivated enough to think in terms of commerce (but I’m always open to learning). I should also add that I’m phobic – to the extreme – when WP makes changes in the dashboard, the platforms, the templates. If not for Wynne goosing me along, I’d still have a pretty outdated look on Victoria Ponders but she’s been a great source of support. She’s a problem-solver and fixer by nature and where tech is concerned, I’d call myself the ‘breaker’. Nice to know a fixer, isn’t it? 😉
6. Do you have a specific style of blogging?
I like writing a mix of personal storytelling along with sharing from my professional background as an educator with a doctorate and a license as a professional counselor. I spent years in higher education and in the helping professions working with populations in need and believe in value added through being vulnerable in order to build resilience and capacity. Feeling needed, being needed. The interdependencies in life sustain me.
Writing about my complicated and painful life with my mother in “Surviving Sue” was a test of vulnerability and I’ve learned so much about the power of memoir. I love helping others find their way as writers and humans intent on healing themselves and others. I’m grateful to all of my supportive friends who are readers and writers and for my terrific publisher, Eckhartz Press.
Here comes the tagging. Even though these prompts mirror the work that some of my fellow bloggers have done recently to update their “About” sections, I think this is a little different. So…if you’re game…Wynne Leon, Brian Hannon, Ab, Vickie Rubin, Todd Fulginiti, Alegria and Dave Williams, I’m tagging you in. But truly. If you’re reading this and the questions appeal to you, join in! Just give credit back to Melanie…and Pete for bringing the reflective fun our way.
Vicki 😎😉😎
“Surviving Sue” is available in paperback from my publisher, Eckhartz Press and the Kindle version is available on Amazon.
Victoria Ponders 
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