Lisa Lysen Of CanadianSmallTowns.com

Tell us about yourself.

I’m a very lucky and proud wife, Mom and Grandma/Granny enjoying retirement, living in a Canadian city but falling in love with Canadian small towns.

Writing has been a dream of mine since before I could even read. As a toddler, I lived to hear bedtime stories and then when I got a little bit older, I couldn’t wait to tell some of my own. I was that kid in school who secretly loved getting essay assignments! (I think there were more of us, right?).

As an adult, I made some choices that saw life sweep me in a direction I wasn’t expecting; a beautiful direction, but one that had no room in it for writing.

And so, now I’m retired and suddenly I have time on my hands and I’m finally doing it! I’m writing!

What brought you to the 30 Day Blog Challenge?

I love blogging because in my imagination, at least, there’s something that feels a little bit invisible and somehow less vulnerable about it.

I’ve had a few magazine articles published and while that’s crazy exciting, it also means contacting an editor, sending your story in, crossing your fingers it’s going to be accepted and then if it is, waiting for it
to be edited.

Don’t get me wrong, I honestly appreciate the editing process! I’ve learned so much with every story I’ve ever had edited, actually. Especially for me, since I don’t have a university degree or post-secondary education, it’s been incredibly helpful.

But with blogging, all that fear of rejection is gone. This feels more like journaling somehow.

The structure of the 30-Day Blog Challenge makes it very easy to stay motivated. I’m excited to see the new email in my inbox every morning and don’t have any trouble finding a way to fit it into my day.

I’m a couple of lessons behind right now, but as new as I am to writing, I’m even newer to computers. And so, it can take me a little while to figure things out. The year I graduated was the first year that computers were introduced to my school and I just wasn’t interested! Like I said … those choices! Lol

I think that’s why I appreciate the way this challenge is laid out. The information, instruction and support are really great! Everything is explained so clearly and is very easy to understand and follow. And I’
excited about it, so staying productive and motivated is no problem.

I guess what also helps with that, too is that my husband, my kids, my family and any of my friends I’ve told about this are super supportive. You can’t help but do better when you have a network of positive encouraging people.

How has being in our community helped your progress?

The community feel of the 30-Day Blog Challenge is also positive and encouraging. I’m learning so much by seeing how other members are putting together their websites and doing their blog posts. I’m on a few
mailing lists already and I’m sure there will be more soon.

What has been the scariest part of this challenge and how have you overcome it?

The absolute scariest thing for me about this challenge so far has been sending out emails and inviting people to follow me. SO NOT MY COMFORT ZONE! My feeling of being invisible totally disappeared!

But I just took a deep breath and did it and the results have been fantastic. I’ve got a nice list of followers now that I never would have had otherwise.

What have you gained from your blogging journey up until now?

This entire experience has been very rewarding. I think, though, what has been best for me personally is that it’s been a great confidence boost. And I’m having fun with it, too and what could be better than that!