I Don’t Know How to Blog!

Cookies from a Friday the 13th party I hosted ♥

Happy New Years! Thirteen is my favorite number of all time (seriously: my friends wish me “Happy 13th” once a month – it’s like my own personal holiday!), so I’ve been excited for 2013 longer than I can remember. And, even though I’m not that big on resolutions, I’ve always liked New Years – mostly because it gives me an excuse to buy a new planner and organize stuff (another one of my favorite things!). Only this year, in addition to organizing my life, I also get to map out a plan for my blog – which got me thinking:

When people talk about holistic approaches to health, you hear a lot about cures that “just work.” No one ever really remembers “where they read it” or “what the exact numbers were,” but you hear a lot about studies that “prove the mind/body connection is real” and how important it is to eat healthy because “what you eat affects everything.”  What you don’t hear a lot about are facts. And it’s not because the research isn’t there. Duke University has a world-renowned center devoted to spirituality, theology and health; the University of Pennsylvania’s Positive Psychology Center is studying the science behind happiness as we speak; and Massachusetts General Hospital (ranked by U.S. News & Report as one of the top five hospitals in the country) has an entire institute devoted to the “study, advancement, and clinical practice of mind/body medicine.” The science is there – it just doesn’t get talked about that much.

And that’s what I want to change with Prayers and Apples. There’s only one problem:

I don’t know how to blog!!

If I was on Facebook, I’d start by posting this ♥

I’m a super private person, so launching Prayers and Apples was actually a huge deal for me. I don’t belong to a single social networking site (no Facebook, Twitter, Instagram… I’m not even a fan of group texts lol), so posting pictures and stuff does not come easy! But I really believe that the information shared on this blog can help people get healthier and happier, so I’m trying to get into the swing of things – I even took some baby-steps with my Happiness page :)

(Funny side-note: when I started writing this, I got curious about how many other people don’t have Facebook, so I Googled it and one of the first things that popped up was an article from Forbes with a really long title that started out: “You don’t need a Facebook account to be considered normal…” so I was like, “Oh! Good!” and I clicked it – only to find, when the full page loaded, that the end of the title was: “But it helps.” LOL)

It’s funny, because I’m not an anti-social person at all! I’m just really traditional (I still mail thank-you notes and birthday cards) and I have trouble doing things halfway. I tend to be pretty “all or nothing” – meaning I either spill my heart out or don’t say anything at all (which, when it comes to Facebook, I’ve decided is probably the safer route!).

..but then I’d probably end up posting random pictures with funny faces and lots of color-filtering, because that’s just what happens when you have Facebook lol

So trying to find a “voice” for my blog has been kind of tricky. Over the past two months I’ve tried reporting just the facts (which seemed a little cold), softening things up with a couple anecdotes (which seemed a little cheesy) and posting cute pictures and just writing about random things (which was fun, but didn’t really solve my problem).

My goal is to help people get happier and healthier by promoting understanding of how the mind/body/spirit connection works. (As a psychology major and former personal trainer, I’m especially interested in how this connection affects obesity, depression and generalized anxiety disorders.) The fitness world (and blogosphere!) is so huge – and there’s already so many great resources out there! – that I feel like this is the one little niche where I can really contribute something. I just need to find a way to keep my posts fun and personal, but still legit and science-y.

(Even though something tells me I shouldn’t use words like “legit” and “science-y”….)

When it comes to blogging, I think I need to find a balance between Text-Jessi and Journalism-Jessi ♥

So basically what I’m saying is: I don’t know how to blog! But, I really hope you’ll keep reading anyway because I’m really excited about learning and I have so much stuff to share about how all this mind/body/spirit stuff works. My goal is to write posts that will give readers a little extra science ammo – so next time you’re trying to convince a friend or relative to eat clean or exercise to get better grades, you can throw in a few impressive statistics or facts that will really help prove your point ;)

Before I get going (because that is one thing I’ve learned: posts are supposed to be a lot shorter than this one!), I just want to say: while getting started has been a little overwhelming, it’s been really fun exploring the blogging community! And when I say ‘community’ I really mean it – it’s like its whole own little world! I had no idea! I started out reading Itty Bits of Balance and, even though Brittany is taking a break from writing right now, I couldn’t be more grateful for finding her site! I was so excited when I got my first comment (from Jennifer M. at Sensibly Fit); Brandi from Faith Fitness and Laughter has been super encouraging, always checking in and leaving comments here and there; and Judy from Shriner Fitness was nice enough to write my first guest post (which was awesome, by the way, and probably needs an encore!). I love, love, love Sweet Tooth Sweet Life and The Fitnessista – they’re both so cute, informative and all about balancing health with enjoying life. Faithful Provisions is like my dream come true (a faith-based site about couponing – hey, you’ve got to come up with a way to afford all that healthy food!) and Running with Perseverance is amazing for keeping me in touch with the cardio world (which I tend to hide from when at all possible LOL).

So thank you to everyone for welcoming me into the blogging world! I’m not too sure what I’m doing, but I’m excited to make a plan for 2013 – and I hope you’ll keep reading along the way!

Happy New Years and Happy Blogging!

♥ Jessica

PS.  If you like reading on your phone, you can add Prayers and Apples to your home screen – it’ll look like a regular app!

Just visit: www.PrayersAndApples.com on your smartphone! ♥