It was nearly a year ago that I took a leap on a long held dream.

On three spring evenings with the whisper of warmth on the breeze, groups of brave and thoughtful women came together to contemplate how motherhood plays out in our lives – and how it intersects with our individual selves.

Often, it cuts those right off at the knees. 

But we came together to assess, to process, and to move forward with more knowledge than before – including that we are in community with other strong women fighting the same battle. 

The community aspect of these workshops is what touched me most. 

In a role that is often thankless and lonely, authentic conversations spurred on by personal reflection are an amazing way to validate the woman/mother voice. 

In September, with the knowledge that many mothers can’t get away or live too far away, I launched an online version of the workshops on this blog.  I took the focus of an in-person workshop and broke it into four modules across a monthly theme.  The thinking, writing, and reflecting done at one’s own pace and the conversation happening in the comments section. 

My personal musings still lived in the Tuesday/Thursday (and occasional literary Friday) postings of the blog, free and available to all.  The online workshops were housed in the Mother vs. Self subscription series. 

The new iteration of the blog had some growing pains. 

I know some readers were frustrated when they received an email notification of a new post only to click and not be granted access.  Or to see the thumbnails of new posts on the homepage and not know which ones would be met by a paywall. 

It was never my intent to alienate my supportive, dedicated readers, many of whom had been with me since the beginning. 

This subscription thing was new to me, too. 

It took me a bit to figure out the logistics, but I finally have two dedicated sides to Chopping Potatoes.

Thank you for your patience – and giving me a second chance if you were annoyed away by my faulty coding!

I love to write, but knowing my words strike a chord is reward as well.