Sometimes Your Blog Makes Me Feel Like a Failure
A long time ago on a blog far far away lived the father of a little girl who has type 1 diabetes...
Many years ago during a conversation with a fellow diabetes parent named Michelle I learned something about my blog that I was painfully unaware of... "Sometimes", Michelle told me, "Sometimes your blog makes me feel like a failure". This was of course, not my goal.
I was crushed because it wasn't Michelle who failed, it was me
Michelle and Mason
Michelle went on to share with me that while she enjoyed Arden's Day and found it to be refreshing and honest, it felt like my writing focused more on what went right with diabetes and in fact that the lack of relatable 'diabetes fail' conversations left her feeling as if everyone was 'succeeding' but her and that she was failing her son Mason.
I took her words to heart
I spent the next few days rereading my own blog and I could see what Michelle was talking about. I wasn't purposely just talking about the 'good stuff' but my attempt to be positive for the community was definitely coming off slanted in that direction. So I changed how I share online with Michelle's brave words as my guide. The adjustment was difficult in many ways but also incredibly rewarding. Anyway, that was a long time ago and today I pride myself on how honest and completely transparent this blog is - Not only is Arden's Day now a complete reflection of my life with type 1 diabetes but I've seen the power of sharing the good and the bad and how it has helped to buoy other families in their times of trouble.
I owe all of that, to Michelle Golladay and she is this weeks guest on the Juicebox podcast.
As you listen to Michelle and I talk about parenting and diabetes she'll spend a few moments telling me about a Parent Advisor Program that she has helped to set up at the Akron Children's Hospital - bringing the DOC IRL! I've included links here and in the show notes of the podcast, local Ohio residents and those interested in learning more should check them out.
You can listen to our conversation right here with the embedded player, on iTunes, Stitcher or your favorite podcast application.