I’ve spent a lot of time thinking and soul searching this week, hence the bit of media silence. This, for me, looks like journaling and list making, brainstorming, and a lot of lying on the couch or in bed feeling depressed and hopeless. The main reason for this is that I feel a tug. A calling even. A huge desire that feels outside myself. But I lack the means, skills, and understanding to get there. Let me explain more.
Blogging, Social media, and more recently, YouTube have been a part of my WhimsyRoo brand’s marketing. But what the WhimsyRoo brand IS and stands for has changed a lot since I first bought the website in 2018. What started as a kids’ activities blog evolved to include adult crafts and DIYs. Then a lot of my personal DIY projects centered around my garden. Now that garden has evolved into a small homestead in my suburban backyard.
The Whimsy in WhimsyRoo has always stood for the part of my personality that leads me to do all the things. Try everything, like Shikira says. I love starting projects. The finishing only happens on projects I really enjoy or have a deadline. If those projects are also content, I have given myself a reason and deadline for finishing said project.
What WhimsyRoo has failed to do for me is make a profit. A few hundred dollars each year isn’t nothing, but it also isn’t much when you are talking about paying bills and feeding a family. With my recent Stay-at-home-Mom status, I’ve felt more of a push for WhimsyRoo to become profitable. Or, failing that, my mini farm to be profitable.
Why has WhimsyRoo failed?
The simple answer I believe is my failure to pick a niche and stick with it.
The algorithms used by companies like Google and Instagram see what little box your content fits in. From there they hand these boxes filled with similar content to people who have shown they like this sort of content.
For example, if you have taken up crocheting, you might search “How to Learn to Crochet,” or “Crochet Patterns for Beginners.” Google will show you websites, mostly blogs, that have posts related to your search. Top ranking sites will have not just one or two posts about crocheting, but multiple, maybe even exclusively crocheting posts. Or say you follow the hashtag “Crochet” and like a lot of reels dealing with crochet hacks and designs. Instagram will start showing you more reels that have the hashtag “crochet” and feature crochet accounts. Again, these accounts won’t have one or two crochet posts, but probably exclusively crochet posts.
My accounts feature Kids’ activities and homeschooling content, and also garden tours. Also DIY projects I’ve done for the garden and my rabbits, Tutorials on my rabbits, but also tutorials for sewing. Mostly videos of me trying something for the first time and hoping it inspires you to try something new too.
You see how that’s different from the typical social media accounts and bloggers. The algorithms don’t know what box to put me and my content in. So it just doesn’t. I don’t fit in a box so I don’t get handed out.
So what to do?
That’s exactly what I’ve been bemoaning the last week or so. Do I pick one niche from the topics I love? What if my brain decides half a year later that topic is boring? That happens a lot. Or I work tirelessly on content for so long that I quickly burnout. Do I keep doing what I’m doing and accept that it’s only a hobby? Maybe. But here’s where that desire and calling comes in.
I’ve wanted a farm since I was a little girl. From as young as I can remember until about 15 years old, I lived with my parents on just over an acre of land. Every day I would go outside and imagine I was riding horses, milking cows, collecting chicken eggs, and playing with goats and pigs. We had lots of cats and dogs over the years, but I could never understand why we didn’t have farm animals. I had a baby goat once. But it died soon after we weaned it from the bottle.
When I had my girls, I recalled my childhood. I remembered having so much room to explore and play and create and imagine. I wanted that so badly for my kids. I WANT that for my kids. And I love animals. If those animals had jobs to do, then all the better! So the desire to have a farm was planted as a seed in my heart.
As we’ve moved twice in the last two years, we searched for a home we could feel safe and comfortable in. But in my heart, I was also searching for a place to grow my farm. A place I could nourish my family in ways beyond just food. I prayed for this home and made a promise to God, “Just provide me with the farm and I will give You my first harvest.”
When we moved to a new build community with HOA and a backyard space of 1300 square feet, I cried, “Why?”
“Feed my sheep,” God said. Not a voice in my head, not through a burning bush, not a message on the wall. But through a scripture quote that kept coming to me even where I was not looking for one. Through podcasts, music on the radio, and books I read I saw the words “Feed my sheep.”
Feed them what? I have no garden, I have no produce. All I have is 1300 square feet of empty space and some dying plants in containers and a broken heart.
“Feed my Sheep.”
Another thing kept popping up in my life. While I was doing research on building fertile soil I learned it would take 5-7 years using the method I chose. I searched for fruit trees to plant and learned they would produce a harvest in 5-7 years. And other things I dreamed of as a long term goal all said “5-7 years.”
So the message was becoming clear. I was to remain here for at least 5-7 years. Give God the opportunity to show what He, I, and this land were capable of in 5-7 years. And sometime in those 5-7 years, I would learn to feed his sheep.
I’ve also learned through mindful observation what it is I’m supposed to feed to God’s sheep.
People are hungry. Not only for fresh, homegrown food. They’re hungry for security. To know that tomorrow, their family will not go hungry. To know that they’re giving their children the best the world has to offer and the best chance at thriving.
My desire and calling, in the next 5-7 years, is to build a community that teaches and learns from each other. The skills required to feed our families, to build a beautiful life, and serve others in the community are the food I will feed to God’s sheep.
Does that fit into a box the algorithms like? Maybe. I can keep learning.
Until then, I’m going to keep posting the things I’m learning, the skills I’m gaining, and the ways I’m building a beautiful life. Hopefully you can help me reach others and form a community if people who want the same and are hungry for this kind of content. Share posts to your friends. Like and comment, even if it’s just a smiley face for encouragement. Try the skills I teach and let me know what you learned. Because I truly want to reach the community that is starving for this.
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