“Hello world” was the generic heading used by WordPress, but I decided to keep it as it is very appropriate to what I am trying to accomplish. To reach out to the world. It is a new experience to me, as until now I have only written a personal blog that a hand-full of my friends would read. And most of it in Latvian, which is my native language.
This is new and different, because I am intending this blog as a professional outlet, a place to reflect both as a social anthropologist and a postpartum doula in training. I have just moved to the US from Latvia… once again. I was in college on the East Coast from 1996 – 2000, married a man from the West Coast, have lived in several different countries (Kosovo and Croatia included) and in New York City, and now finally it looks like we are settling down (whatever that means, but for me it means that there is no immediate plan of departure). In San Francisco… in the house where my husband grew up, Richmond District.
All I know about my new house is that you can see the ocean from the terrace (when there is no fog, which there often is), that there is a garden that noone has taken care of for a long time and that we will move there some time in November.
With two young children, I tend to work on this site late at night, when they are asleep, therefore it is taking a while. I am intending several informational sections that would be permanent, on postpartum doulas, natural parenting (including my views on natural world, toys, use of technology and birthing naturally) and breastfeeding (I am hoping to share practical advice, as i have nursed for… hmmm… almost four years now, but this part of the site is under construction). There is a section on books I recommend that already has a fair amount of recommendations. I only have to work more on the Advanced Parent part.
All in all, I am very excited about this, but also apprehensive. I am worried whether I would manage to walk that fine line between professionalism and being always truthful, later being the quality that I value a lot in people (unless it is mean-spirited) and especially if it is directed to oneself. I am not yet prepared to share my most intimate thoughts with the ultimate unknown of the internet never-ending universe, on the other hand – what is more intimate than childbirth and the first days after the birth of your child, the postpartum time? I am also not intending to write about my future clients (unless they permit to share the story, and even then, I have been trained quite well to protect my informant’s personal data while conducting research in social anthropology).
I expect that there will be a fair amount of cultural comparison in this blog, me having just moved from Latvia and all. That by default usually creates a lot of turmoil. Please forgive me in advance. I do not mean to offend anybody. In fact, I am sometimes too eager not to offend anybody that I may not speak out at all, but then again, I value the truth above anything.
I don’t know how long blog-posts are supposed to be, this seems a bit too long already. I will end now and will go to bed.