What I Have Learned After One Year of the Perennial Wildflower

It has been a while since I last wrote a blog, and I want to be candid about why.

I started this blog with the intention of sharing new knowledge and helpful insight about the many things I’m learning through my experience of more earth-friendly living. I have this fundamental belief that the information I’m learning is worth knowing, putting into practice and sharing. While that goal is still the same, what I did not realize going into this project is how difficult it would be for me to find my voice as a writer. 

As a trained journalist, commitment to journalistic integrity through thorough and accurate research and honest and objective reporting are the guidelines I live by professionally. In an age when anyone can send out information into the world or enlist assistance from ChatGPT to find the words for them, it’s an interesting landscape to navigate as a writer. Questions like, 'Why does my voice matter in all the commotion​?,' 'Am I really providing quality information?’ and ‘Does anyone actually care about what I have to say​?' surface for me regularly. 

But when I think deeply about why I wanted to start a blog, it’s because for me, typing the words out and seeing them in front of me is how I make the most sense of the world around me. Writing gives me an outlet to think thoughtfully and critically at my own pace— regardless of the pace of life happening around me or what anyone else thinks. I fully believe that individual efforts can help make a difference in the long-term health of our planet, and by writing about my experience with that, I am processing what I have learned. 

No matter where technology takes us, I will always believe there is beauty in honest, good writing—sharing stories and experiences that matter, touch us on a deep level and connect us. To do it well, you have to live authentically by your core truths and values, sometimes tuning out the other voices, expectations and pressures around you—and you have to allow yourself to be vulnerable. 

In realizing that, I guess what I have actually learned after one year of writing the Perennial Wildflower is that this project is really for me, more than for you my loyal and supportive reader. While I would be delighted to know that my experience can help inspire or benefit you in some way to make impactful changes for our world, I feel too much pressure when I let myself write for you instead of for me. I am not an expert. I am a student. And this is not a space for me to be a journalist, a blogger or a social media influencer.

If I could illustrate my point with an image, it would be as if the Perennial Wildflower is an invitation to you into my home, garden and the open pages of my journal. A place where you are welcome to sit down with me, enjoy a beverage and connect over new experiences.

I am no longer going to try to shape my approach to blogs around specific topics, content schedules, deadlines or future goals. I am no longer going to worry about proper website SEO, subscriptions or analytics, and I really don’t have any interest in having a presence on social media. I thrive a lot better when I can focus on one thing at a time, and my priority here is dedicating more time shaping my lifestyle around healthier earth habits, and allowing my writing to help me make sense of the experience. I will write and share as it happens organically based on the things I’m learning from the teachers and classrooms that are all around me.

It feels really good to let that be enough for now.

I always welcome an intimate conversation or chance to connect more personally, so please reach out to me directly any time!

Until next time,

Jill Span Hofbauer