Dear Jessica Brennan,
When someone writes a blog about travel or food or computers, identifying what the blog is about is quite simple. With these kinds of topics, you can even branch off or specialize. A blog might be about travel in Europe, or diet and nutrition, or Apple Computers, and you can break this down even further and write about travel by rail, or the Keto Diet, or the iPhone. You see how these kinds of blogs can easily be defined.
But what on earth is Dear Jessica Brennan about?
Most of you know that this blog started by accident. One simple humorous Facebook post written about 4 years ago by an overprotective mother (me), to her grown up and totally capable daughter (Jessica), garnered enough appreciation one morning, that it turned into another post and another, and well, here we are. So, is Dear Jessica Brennan about mothers and daughters? Yes, but no, not entirely.
You see while I’m writing to Jessica, I’m also writing to whoever wants to read. I’m writing to you. The blog allows me to comment on what is going on in the world, but it isn’t really about current events.
Many people have commented on how they like the fact that they can read a few words from a mum each week. Even when we are older, we like to hear from (a) mum. It is comforting, nurturing and hopefully at least sometimes it ends up promoting kindness and tolerance. But, this isn’t an advice column. I’m no Ann Landers.
The blog often features small things I have noticed or offers observational humour that points out occurrences that can be funny. Making fun of Jessica’s Dad the genius, or our resident comedian and friend Dave, lightens up a world where there is a lot of heavy information coming toward us. But the blog isn’t full-on comedy. Sometimes it is quite serious.
So, what on earth is Dear Jessica Brennan about? I think I’m almost there.
Dear Jessica Brennan is a blog about the things in life that connect us – motherhood, humour, loss, joy and disillusionment. It covers heartbreak and love, friendship and the wisdom and pain of purging relationships.
It is written by a normal woman living a normal life (me), to a normal daughter living a normal life (Jessica), and is intended to touch the minds, hearts and funny bones of other normal people – whatever your normal ends up being, because normal is different for everyone and can change regularly.
I don’t need to be right, or certain, or anyone’s guru. I just think that people should follow their own gut, revel in their own art, relax in their own decisions, behave themselves, and be kind.
This is what Dear Jessica Brennan is about. It is an exploration of the human experience that, like the subject and the author (and I suspect most of the readers), doesn’t tick the box of any one tidy category.
Marketing people hate this. Apparently “real life” is too broad a topic for a successful blog.
I can live with that.
Love,
Mum xo
