So Many Paths- 31 for 21

I follow a lot of blogs by moms of kids with Ds. It's great, really. It can be so nice to know that I am not alone in my feelings and that there are people around me who can always relate.

I can't tell you how many times I've read someone's words and felt that I could have written them myself. Or have had others say the same to me.

Right now, since it's Down Syndrome Awareness month, there's a whole lot of blogging going on. There are a lot of people participating in the 31 for 21 challenge, participating in blog hops and posting on Facebook.

I've heard other moms say that sometimes it feels like "preaching to the choir"; that we don't have much to say that the other parents don't already know.  In a way that may be true, but we all blog for our own reasons, and those of us who do so to communicate with our peers in the Ds community seem to do it to find support and common ground, rather than just to educate one another.

But really, for each of us, it's all about where we are in our own lives, in our own journeys, in our own processes. We all have ups and downs. Sometimes we're sad, at other times blissfully happy.  At times we're angry and at others we're grateful. 

We've all had different ways of adjusting to the changes in our lives. Our paths to acceptance are all different, even if many of the emotions are the similar.

I love that I can read someone's perspective and be inspired, be challenged or be brought to tears. I appreciate that I can read someone's words and not relate, as well.  That I can see that we are all different individuals with different ways of raising our children and living our lives.

There is comfort in hearing from parents who can really relate to some of the circumstances in my life.  There is comfort in talking to my friends with young children with Down syndrome and realizing that we can honestly discuss things that are difficult to talk about and still understand one another, even though we live our lives very differently when you get right down to it.

I am grateful for the diversity.  For the community, as varied and eclectic as it is.

My own process in this blogging journey isn't altogether clear or planned out.  I don't necessarily have a theme or an overall message that I have defined.  I write what I feel at the time.  Sometimes it feels altogether unoriginal.  Most of my inspiration comes from Cora herself, but is obviously shaped by my thoughts and reactions to the world around us, our blogging community included.

I just hope to share a little bit about where I am now and about the life that we are living.  Sometimes I am full of joy and hope and the pure bliss of loving my daughter.  At others I am anxious and concerned about her future.  And at others I just get stuck in my own head.

It is an ever-evolving process, this life that I am living. 

If you're interested in checking out some of the blogs that make me think and offer varying perspectives, check these out:

The Unknown Contributor

Life as I Know It

With a Little Moxie

Mostly True Stuff

Gillian Marchenko