Since I wrote this Watching the Cool Girls Hang in June, my little Heart Mama community has grown. It was like opening a valve…exposing my blog’s little heart…my little heart.
Soon after, I was contacted by the director of Mumgo, and asked to write weekly feature blog posts for Mumgo’s new and fast-growing site. I had a buzz for days, thinking about the huge honour and compliment this was. My little blog had received it’s first significant acknowledgement.
In August , I wrote How to Grow a Child. The response was heart-warming. I discovered the voice of Heart Mama and the focus I wanted it to take. Heart Mama’s purpose became about nourishing little hearts with love, tenderness and sunshine.
Late in August, my post A Date With My Past was featured on Freshly Pressed, the WordPress home page – selected from over one million blog posts published that day. My page views for that day soared over 1500.
In September, my post In You I Trust was widely circulated. Again my page views were over 1,000. I welcomed many of these readers to the Heart Mama community on Facebook.
Since June, my overall page views have more than doubled, even though I have been blogging for two years. The Heart Mama community on Facebook has grown from 112 people to nearly 500.
It has been such an honour and an exciting journey to not only discover my voice, and the purpose of this blog, but also to connect with so many wonderful readers and other bloggers.
Heart Mama has filled the creative gap in my life. It has given me focus and purpose. I truly believe in nourishing little hearts with love, tenderness and sunshine. The process of writing this blog has filtered back into my ‘real life’, and has helped me be more present with my children. More aware. More alive. More sunshine.
This month, Heart Mama has received One Lovely Blog Award, nominated by the lovely Brianna from My Happy Life. This is my first blog award, and I was very touched to have been considered. On acceptance of this award, I am to share five things about myself, and nominate five other blogs for One Lovely Blog Award. Nominees can choose between the following two honour badges:
So, as my older daughter is at playgroup, and my littlest heart sleeps against my chest, I accept, and share the following five things about me.
1. I knew my husband for two weeks (physically) and three months inter-continentally before he proposed, and I accepted. Six years later, we still enjoy a beautiful, strong relationship; full of support and nourishment and kindness. He is my backbone, my strength, my antidote and the best father to my children one could ever hope for.
2. I used to manage a very reputable contemporary art gallery in Melbourne. For many years, art was my love and my life. I worked closely with talented artists, and committed clients. Working at the gallery was a very colourful period in my life, and taught me much about business and art and how the two go hand in hand. It was through the gallery that I met my husband.
3. 2005 was the hardest year of my life. It was my gap year, essentially, when I set sail into unknown lands, and lived a year in London. Cold, dreary, grey London. I arrived in the middle of winter and struggled for the next twelve months to find my feet…a job, a National Insurance number, a bank account, friends, myself. My heart was broken, and it was only on returning to Australia that I was able to heal.
4. I went to boarding school for five years. Although I made deep friendships and was taught to use my cutlery correctly, as well as other ways of being a lady, I wouldn’t recommend it.
5. Choosing to go to boarding school was not out of character, as I spent a childhood ‘running away from home’. My greatest expedition was at the age of six. Little brother in tow, I marched us along the country hi-way towards town – the incentive for my brother being to buy lollies. A kindly neighbour spotted us, although we leapt into the tall grass on the side of the road every time a car passed in case it was the police, and informed my parents.
I would like to nominate the following five for One Lovely Blog Award:
Of course, there are many other blogs I would love to nominate…but I will keep my nominations to five.
Thank you again, Brianna, for the acknowledgement. xx
What wonderful facts about yourself! How interesting and inspiring that you had to leave home to realize that was where you needed to be. As always, so beautiful!! xx
Congratulations on the award
I’m only new to your blog (only new to my own blog as well), but I love reading it, learning more about you and realising that if I keep at this, I might grow as you have 
Congratulations Zanni. I read those five things and felt honoured to have been a privileged part of three of them – from the day you told me of Greg’s proposal over a cup of tea in your kitchen, to meeting you for wine and tapas after the gallery closed, to travelling with you in the UK to help you pull yourself out of that dark hole and heal. You have grown and experienced so much and it is all so beautifully reflected in your writing. Congratulations again. The award is so well deserved. May you, your blog and your beautiful family continue to grow.
Of course you were there Pip my dear friend. For all the important occasions. Love you lots and hoping you are enjoying this tropical stage! X x x
This sounds like my husband and I. We met online (before dating sites) and instantly clicked. We had been physically together a total (non-consecutive) for three weeks before I moved across the country and four months later (to the day), we were married. Seven years next month and this month marks 8 years since we met online (give or take a few weeks, neither of us remember exactly when it was we first started talking). He’s the only man I’ve ever given my number to online and I’m so very glad I did
Wow, how romantic! So glad it all worked out so well. x
Beautiful! I’m glad it all worked out so well!
Thanks so much for passing the award on to me!
I’m sorry to hear you had such a dreadful time in London – It’s my home town. If only we had known each other then x
That would have been nice Catherine. I needed a local. x
Thank you, Zanni! What a lovely surprise. I’m very honoured you’ve included me in your 5.
xxx