What's with the name My Quiet Kitchen?
And why I decided to start a vegan food blog...
In this increasingly noisy world, thoughts on slowing down, finding meaning, doing less and BEing more, have dominated my head space for the past few years.
When most of our days are filled with obligation and distraction, with no time for wonder or spontaneity, our health and well-being can suffer. As someone who is fairly introverted and sensitive, the constant flow of information in today's world often leads to feeling overwhelmed, distracted, and less connected to life.
Exercising outdoors is one way I embrace the quiet, along with yoga. Spending quiet, "me time" in the kitchen is another, hence the blog's name.
Aside from my love of all things quiet and calm, considering that we don't have children, our kitchen quite literally IS quiet (compared to how I imagine many households to be, at least). My own stirring, slicing, chopping and washing, plus the occasional kitty meow, is about as noisy as it gets. 😁
Maybe you're thinking, "Blogging seems like an odd choice for someone looking to decrease the amount of social media and screen time in her life." And to that I would say, "Good point!"
When I first realized I wanted to create this website (back in 2013 before I landed a job at a local brewery which kept me busy for a while), the food blog industry was well established but nothing like it is now. As I write these words in preparation of launch, it's mid 2018 and the food blogosphere is HUGE. There are so many talented people doing amazing work. Many are experts at video, food styling, photography, SEO, cookbook writing, marketing, etc. It's so impressive what people are creating!
Blogging has become serious business, and I've faced a lot of self-doubt wondering what I have to offer. But I keep coming back to this one thing:
Food blogs were extremely helpful to me when I first went vegan, and I've learned a lot in the past 10+ years. So why shouldn't I try to contribute something helpful for someone else?
It feels at times like everything has been done before, but I decided to push fear aside and admit that even if I connect with just one person, it's all worth it.
Add to this that we’re all on different paths and respond to different personalities and philosophies, and I finally realized that yes, even I have something to add! When it comes to educating the world about veganism, including cooking and nutrition, every voice is helpful.
Veganism is my passion.
Helping people discover truths about food and nutrition is my passion.
Shining a light on the many ways a vegan lifestyle makes sense is my passion.
And so I'm here. Better late than never!
Will my desire for a simpler, quieter life affect the success and reach of this blog? Well, based on what I've learned so far about blogging, probably. But I'm not worried about algorithms and the status quo of self-promotion right now.
I do use social media but don't want it to be a central part of life. The truth is that we need these tools to help us find each other out here in internet-land. Ultimately, I don't want my social media posts serving as just another distraction for you, one more thing causing you to look at your phone. Right now, for bloggers, there's no easy answer to this dilemma.
I promise, what you won't get from me are the "look how cool my life is" posts or anything that feeds the comparison monster. Also, posts that focus on body weight or fitness for the sake of physical appearance and posts about skin/makeup/hair/beauty, etc, are not what this site is about.
Thankfully, many resources already exist that can help us find cruelty-free skin and hair products, and I think that's great. It's just not what I'm into. As I enter mid-life, I'm more interested in undoing decades of being told our worth lies in our physical appearance.
One of the things I've always wanted most in the world is for us all to be more honest and real with each other. I don't claim to be good at this, but I'm working on it. In this way, maybe we can use the internet to foster connection instead of comparison and unhappiness.
I hope this blog can serve as inspiration, whether it leads to creating more home cooked meals or to reading books and other blogs about plant-based nutrition and a vegan lifestyle. And if you've made it this far down the page, my hope is that maybe you're also into this idea of a quieter life (and activities that require an attention span of more than 8 seconds). 😂 Thanks for bearing with me!
If you find value in my work I hope you'll share it with your friends and family. Have questions or suggestions? Feel free to email me anytime at lori@myquietkitchen.com