tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574269791828128314.post4851786232036999984..comments2024-03-11T05:02:29.114-06:00Comments on indietutes: me and soulemamaCharity Indietuteshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13517919253368724623noreply@blogger.comBlogger78125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574269791828128314.post-87203112049561401792014-09-17T17:18:23.022-06:002014-09-17T17:18:23.022-06:00I think your post was amazing and insightful, espe...I think your post was amazing and insightful, especially the part about Amanda Blake Soule (ABS) being a professional. I had to abandon her blog for years because of the inferiority complex it was causing me. She (from what I see on her blog) is everything I could want to be in a mother: loving, grateful, creative, devoted, inspired, full-time hardcore homesteader and homemaker, sewer, knitter, crafter, cook, radical unschooler, absolutely nothing plastic in the entire house, everything is wooden/wool/iron/vintage, locally & sustainably made, and her husband is home with her full time and they do not need any outside help or even occasional assistance from extended family, as far as we know. <br /><br />But I do have a friend who is similar to her, and my friend's big secret is that her husband has a trust fund that allows them to both stay home with the kids and have an amazing gorgeous home, a lovely homestead, divine clothes and trips and exquisite toys and crafts and... and... and... and ... So I do wonder if there is a trust fund involved in ABS's life. It would explain the ability to buy seemingly limitless amazing things: an ever-expanding homestead, expensive cameras for each child, dozens and dozens of animals, all the tools and supplies needed to build everything around their homestead, expensive fabrics, high-end markers and crafts, vintage everything, hand-made everything, and absolutely every item around the landscape, the farm, the house/home, timelessly picture perfect. <br /><br />Honestly, I'm sure she is an amazing, beautiful person. Everyone, everywhere online who has met her seems to consistently say that about her, that she is authentic and honest. And she must be, since every time I come across a blog post somewhere that doesn't praise her up/down & sideways, there are always 2 or 3 ladies that jump in to her defense as a "good/personal/super-close friend". It's like their scouring the net for blog posts that are critical, which is kinda creepy. But that's her friends, not her. But her friends do that for her (probably not even at her bequest), which is equally impressive. <br /><br />I don't understand how she is able to afford everything, with neither of them working. Yeah, yeah, her blog makes money. But her life was bigger than life even before her blog exploded into a phenomenon and she authored three books. I'm sure we'll never know how she does it. If she has a trust fund, or her own mom or MIL stop by to help now and then, or even a housekeeper. We'll never know how she does it. Because she DOES do it, even if it's cropped and only-positive. I just don't understand it, is all.<br /><br />Thanks for keeping it real.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574269791828128314.post-32858796002342941122011-10-16T12:07:19.806-06:002011-10-16T12:07:19.806-06:00The writing in Soulemama's blog is exactly lik...The writing in Soulemama's blog is exactly like the photographs... very heavily cropped close-ups. <br /><br />I live in Maine and Amanda Soule is something of a cult figure up here. I can not tell you how many new moms have cried to me about what they read in Soulemama, and my answer is always the same "she lies by omission." It is not what she chooses to write but the volumes that she does not that leaves women feeling like failures. And she knows this. But keeping women feeling like they are falling short is how she makes her money.<br /><br />If any blog out there is making you feel like a failure instead of inspiring you to keep trying your best STOP READING IT!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574269791828128314.post-89095392913975148892011-10-08T18:19:13.923-06:002011-10-08T18:19:13.923-06:00ok, so you posted this like a million years ago. b...ok, so you posted this like a million years ago. but if feelings persist, let me just remind (and i've been through this, too) that soulemama and all other mamas are JUST mamas, and all those that blog, or share stories, or scrapbook, or document any memories at all, are doing so, thankfully, with a fine lens, so to speak. that is to say that all things actually posted/retold/cropped/etc. by successful bloggers, story tellers, croppers, etc., are finely-tuned, and whittled down to the best-of-the-best. you think soulemama (or any other human, real-life, mama) has nothing but peace and smiles and sharing and laughter and good times to share? totally not. and that's not the point. it's her (and our) interpretation of same. you know? can't beat self up over it. just craft as you will and do the things that are of importance to you and yours. i bet now that time has passed, and you've been a-craftin, that you can honestly look back at your blog/other and say, wow, i'm doing it! keep it up!!!! you're just as awesome as any other mama. we all are :)Jessicanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574269791828128314.post-25221538797555245392011-09-03T10:55:37.182-06:002011-09-03T10:55:37.182-06:00Okay, my comments will probably be like one of the...Okay, my comments will probably be like one of the above. Love the honesty in this post. I just happened to do a goggle search on Soulemama and saw ur link. Read your post and I feel that there’s humanity in the blogosphere. Sometimes reading the perfect words and looking at those perfect pictures of other bloggers are very demoralising. Like you, I can’t help but subconsciously measure myself up to them and feel so lousy after every read. Maybe it’s time to unfollow those blogs and follow those who dare to share the honesty of life. =)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574269791828128314.post-54427197611563511642011-08-30T07:52:31.084-06:002011-08-30T07:52:31.084-06:00I'm going to add your blog to mine based soule...I'm going to add your blog to mine based soule-ly on this post of yours and all the comments. i need me some reality! I'm tired of soule-mama's neat packages, too ....Karenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16706071409908084910noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574269791828128314.post-23912190548305303242011-04-20T14:34:28.572-06:002011-04-20T14:34:28.572-06:00I love this post, and I love the comments too. I d...I love this post, and I love the comments too. I don't have a blog, but if I did all the photos would be of month-old laundry, dirty dishes, and failed craft projects. I would write about how I lost my temper even when I was trying hard not too and how I haven't wiped the sticky stuff off my kid's hands since...yesterday.<br /><br />Kuddos to all the real imperfect mamas.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574269791828128314.post-33409738281416087142011-02-04T01:53:19.066-07:002011-02-04T01:53:19.066-07:00great post, well put.
I don't read any Mama-...great post, well put. <br /><br />I don't read any Mama-blogs anymore. To be honest, they all make me feel inadequate and sometimes violent. It's why I gave up going to the coffee-mornings and the perfect-mum-and-baby-groups too. <br /><br />Thanks for providing some relief from that.Sam Brightwellhttp://emergingintowholeness.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574269791828128314.post-42603679278099842222011-01-10T21:12:39.244-07:002011-01-10T21:12:39.244-07:00man i was glad to find this post.
i went through...man i was glad to find this post. <br /><br />i went through a heavy soulemama phase a few years back but just could not keep up. and now shes having another kid! her blog is still in my reader, but i dont read most posts. i look at the title and if it seems as if it may be about something crafty that i could use as inspiration, i'll surely pop over, otherwise im not interested. not only am i not soulemama and never will be, but i just cant relate to her anymore. i dont want to live on a farm and i dont want five children. her life choices are certainly not my life choices. this doesnt make either one of us "wrong" or "bad"-just different, and it takes all types to make the world go 'round.<br /><br />i commend her for living her life as she wishes, and i will do the same, and that will mean not reading her blog regularly.<br /><br />thank you for this post. frankly, im glad someone had the balls to talk about it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574269791828128314.post-76800038433571192562010-12-15T10:30:55.193-07:002010-12-15T10:30:55.193-07:00Man, I think about this stuff a lot. Glad to read ...Man, I think about this stuff a lot. Glad to read here.--ginger.http://wienerdogtricks.typepad.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574269791828128314.post-4632026241255760392010-11-12T22:01:02.305-07:002010-11-12T22:01:02.305-07:00Ahhh, thank you, I feel much better knowing I'...Ahhh, thank you, I feel much better knowing I'm not the only one! I, too, need a break from SouleMama.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574269791828128314.post-660832642351965162010-11-01T08:05:21.143-06:002010-11-01T08:05:21.143-06:00The point at which I wept and laughed simultaneous...The point at which I wept and laughed simultaneously was when Soulemama admitted to giving the children boxed cereal for breakfast when her husband was terribly ill. My kids go to school, we have furniture from Ikea, they eat boxed cereal and none of their clothes are homemade and yet I adore Soulemama's aesthetic and secretly aspire to run my home her way. I have no doubt that she is very, very lovely and a great mom but your insight (that she blogs and creates professionally) was incredibly liberating and put a finger on precisely why I've decided to delete Soulemama's blog from my bookmarks. Maybe I can go back when I'm feeling a bit stronger.lightroomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574269791828128314.post-82781507909536801792010-07-12T21:02:11.770-06:002010-07-12T21:02:11.770-06:00OMG! I must be normal! I was just looking at all t...OMG! I must be normal! I was just looking at all these great mommy blogs and totally felt that way about one that I was reading. All I could think was "This witch has my life!". I spent several hours reading her entire blog(my perfect life). Then I went on to read the mommy blogs she linked to--mommies who had lost a child. It put me back in my place real fast. I have not lost a child in that sense, although I miscarried my first pregnancy before we knew we were pregnant. How can I be sad that my life was full of ups and downs, mainly financial because I chose my children over a job? My husband and I have survived 18 years so far! I am so happy that I chose to stay home with my kids even if they didnt have the best of everything. I tell them dirty dishes are a blessing. If I lost one today, I know that I wouldn't be sad that I missed their childhood because I didnt. I was there.TheBonusCodeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06553462538477772788noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574269791828128314.post-283206081009756192010-06-13T20:12:37.685-06:002010-06-13T20:12:37.685-06:00I am late to the party on this post, but I wanted ...I am late to the party on this post, but I wanted to say: I LOVE your blog! And I will see your feelings of inferiority & raise them to being afraid to even start a blog b/c there is no way it could be as great as yours & others. Thanks for the reminder of what is really important!Amynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574269791828128314.post-62568243694772726792010-06-10T03:28:23.224-06:002010-06-10T03:28:23.224-06:00I also read Soulemama's blog and have a love/h...I also read Soulemama's blog and have a love/hate relationship with it... It is the ultimate "life through rose coloured glasses" blog... but anyone with half a brain can see that her life is not as it would appear on the blog... it simply isn't possible... No one can do all the things she talks about doing... at least not very well anyway... there aren't enough hours in the day... or enough hands! something has to give! i personally think her kids run wild all day while she sits at the computer and does her craft!! or there is a secret nanny that no-one knows about... the blog is very carefully edited...and is simply a marketing tool... it is not real life... it is snippets of what might be a real life... but certainly not the full picture... and if you keep that in perspective it helps... although i still yell at her blog every now and again!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574269791828128314.post-3143193743298500462010-06-10T01:05:06.015-06:002010-06-10T01:05:06.015-06:00I could have written this post a few months ago ab...I could have written this post a few months ago about Amanda's blog and others online. Envy, inferiority... what awful things to feel! <br /><br />I finally realized that my life is pretty cool. I get to do all sorts of amazing things that other people don't get to do. Now I try not to see blogs like Amanda's as competition. I<br />nstead I try to look at what I like about what she is doing and I try to incorporate elements of that into my own day. <br /><br />Over time these things I admire in others have become part of my life too.Melissahttp://elementalstitches.typepad.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574269791828128314.post-48883504698792236752010-06-09T07:19:06.785-06:002010-06-09T07:19:06.785-06:00Not that I'm keeping score, but I think you...Not that I'm keeping score, but I think you've had more hit's than amanda this time!:)<br /><br />I love that you make me laugh, keep keeping it real.busygnomeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06603661990169634989noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574269791828128314.post-45733674835241756692010-05-30T19:34:17.780-06:002010-05-30T19:34:17.780-06:00I feel i could have written this about you instead...I feel i could have written this about you instead of reading it from you!! You are an amazing person, and i look up to you and admire your passion and creativity! Heck, i'd have written that same thing if i ever remembered to update my own personal blog... :)<br /><br />you are who you are for your life and your family, I think you are perfect the way you are! :) (a bit of cheesy-ness for you :-) )JenDeBetthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09685750377994821044noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574269791828128314.post-21285081582476895282010-05-30T18:37:14.849-06:002010-05-30T18:37:14.849-06:00i just wanted to say, i've been there, thought...i just wanted to say, i've been there, thought those things, had to take a break from her blog, and then felt like a stupid idiot for comparing my life to a window into her own life. for me, it was the sense of blissful perfection that made me look at my life and wonder why i didn't have that. But after some soul-searching (ha! soul/soule) i can now enjoy 100% the beauty she shares. It now uplifts instead of drags down, and that's all because of how I view it. I read this post smiling, glad to know I'M NOT THE ONLY ONE!!! :)<br />oh, and your blog = awesome. just so you know.estherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06293359768050991565noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574269791828128314.post-72012518182048224552010-05-28T19:36:00.236-06:002010-05-28T19:36:00.236-06:00Can I tell you something weird, funny, a little ou...Can I tell you something weird, funny, a little out of body (well I am gonna anyway!)? The first post I ever read on your blog was your post about giving up reading Soulemama. I was drawn in by your raw honesty and understanding of self. And because I so often make the same comparisons in the blogging/crafty world. So thank you so much for sharing your journey and your human-ness. I LOVE seeing pictures of people's messines and reading stories of their flaws and struggles. Makes a mama who constantly forgets snacks, can't for the life of her remember that the tooth fairy is supposed to visit, and hates to clean but loves her family and life remember she is a natural force of parenting/crafting nature as well. <br />peaceSarahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07645787322477117699noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574269791828128314.post-16288219188983319122010-05-26T17:28:01.508-06:002010-05-26T17:28:01.508-06:00I've read both blogs and many others. I find i...I've read both blogs and many others. I find it interesting that even in "blog world," the same schoolyard angst plays out. Someone points out the flaws of the "chosen" or "popular" one and a chorus of "oh, we like you better!" arises. Individuals put what they want the world to see on their blog -- it's like reality tv, not real. <br />JoyAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574269791828128314.post-60245936546531754512010-05-26T14:33:48.839-06:002010-05-26T14:33:48.839-06:00I did not read the above 57 comments, so perhaps s...I did not read the above 57 comments, so perhaps someone has already said this: YOU are many people's "Soulemama"...YOU are an ideal that many people strive for. And judging by the photos of Smootch and Birdie, they wouldn't trade their mommy for all the knitting in the world.Rachael and Chrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00278466750304646453noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574269791828128314.post-21929639016088442412010-05-25T15:30:18.477-06:002010-05-25T15:30:18.477-06:00OMG, I totally have to take a break from her blog ...OMG, I totally have to take a break from her blog from time to time! I am always comparing myself to other people and I think in part it is good in the sense that it drives you to do better in your own life, but it is important to be happy with what you are too. Thanks for this great post!!KristenMaryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06951163650993226852noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574269791828128314.post-13660833131141064182010-05-24T10:19:58.408-06:002010-05-24T10:19:58.408-06:00I've seen others mention this already, but it ...I've seen others mention this already, but it really is just so true. There are likely many people out there who, at least on occasion, compare themselves to you like you do to Soulemama. We will always compare ourselves to others sometimes, we just have to try to keep it under control and realize that we are the best mamas our children could have, and that if we were all like Soulemama, she'd be a total bore, along with the rest of us!Erica @ Acire Adventureshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13537734219733582635noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574269791828128314.post-80877220939594335472010-05-23T21:43:55.526-06:002010-05-23T21:43:55.526-06:00I subscribe to both of your blogs, but I've ne...I subscribe to both of your blogs, but I've never even heard of this soulemama. I checked her out through your link and thought Meh. I like yours. (-;<br /><br />I quit McQueenMama, or whatever, for the same reasons. I'm just not that kinda gal. (-:Tiffanyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15922234826807868979noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7574269791828128314.post-86679916619885339872010-05-23T15:46:34.686-06:002010-05-23T15:46:34.686-06:00thumbs up ! on your blog vegbee.. i really lov thi...thumbs up ! on your blog vegbee.. i really lov this blog...i keep attracted to come every week and read whats going on here.. , so be sure of something she might have a nice fancy blog.. well decorated as well..<br />but you have something else she does not have ...your blog transmits peace.. love..and more..Fatima P.https://www.blogger.com/profile/09488517272940568810noreply@blogger.com