I love going to St. Lawrence Market in Toronto. It’s among my favourite places to go.

I started this blog in part because the foodie in me had taken over another one, which became wildly unfocused as a result. I also embarked on becoming a “food blogger” proper because I wanted to share my love of food with others. I chose “journey” as a way of framing the experience, but I think I’ve lost the plot.

In attempting to take amazing photos that are “drool-worthy” and make for good “food porn,” I forgot about the stories. In trying to put out a new recipe each week (every other lately), I lost track of the food itself. In lamenting that I don’t have the required “numbers” to get more than a passing glance from a brand looking for bloggers to work with, I negated the value of the readers I do have. In lamenting being a small fish in a big pond, I stopped being thankful that I get to swim at all.

Visiting a pumpkin patch is part of the journey. We love visiting farms and farm stands. Knowing where our food comes from is important to us.

I didn’t start blogging because I wanted to be famous (even in a blogsphere scale). I don’t want to be the next big thing. Honest. I’m a mom of two who is homeschooling. I do not have the time nor inclination to work my tail off building those numbers and understanding things like SEO and securing advertising revenue (all while making no money and paying what I don’t have). I’m not looking for a job. Not right now, anyway. I just want to share. Not stress over numbers or recipes or churning out posts at set intervals or figuring out how to be seen by as many people as possible on Facebook (or apparently Pinterest now).

Maybe it’s naive to think that just talking about food will be enough to build a solid base, which I do actually want. What I don’t want is to do it while burning out on the experience. It’s just that sometimes I don’t have a recipe, or a good picture of something I’ve just made. Sometimes I just want to share what we’ve been eating, or where we’ve been, or something that’s caught my attention or fancy. And sometimes I want to post pics that aren’t perfect. Sometimes they are over-exposed, or the colour is over-saturated, and that may be on purpose. Slightly artsy, maybe moody, or perhaps just fun. I want to post them. Even if they won’t get pinned, or find me a coveted place on a food-porn site.

I played with Sagelight to turn a regular photo from the market into this. I think it’s fun.

I think it’s time to give myself permission to enjoy the journey again. To share “imperfect’ content. To believe that there are others out there who want to read and chat, even if there’s no recipe at the end.

And it’s time to re-examine the journey itself. Last week’s post is a great example of that journey. I’ll continue to explore the recipes in the Mennonite Treasury, sharing the hits and misses (I’m sure there will be many). I’m also going to take more pictures, not of properly lit finished dishes, but of places I go and things I see. I’m slowly going to get back to why I started this blog in the first place. And I’d be honoured if you’d come along on the journey with me.

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