My friend and reader Marie writes:
I love reading your blog and many other [Catholic mom blogs.] However, I have to confess that—as much as I love reading all these blogs—it has become harder and harder to do so because I feel so out of touch with a huge segment of the posts – about raising a family, children, pregnancy, etc.
Especially now that I have had the 2 miscarriages, I am wondering if I am not at least perpetuating my own sadness and feelings of being down by constantly reminding myself of what I am missing.
I still enjoy feeling part of a community and love reading about people’s lives, struggles, joys, etc. and I am not going to give up reading these blogs cold turkey. But I thought maybe I should round it out a bit with some other types of blog readings.
Do you know of other blogs that are written by young adult professional Catholics—ones that are trying to live their faith at home, in the workplace, basically everywhere?
I’ll admit that the majority of the blogs I read are written by Catholic homeschooling moms. (I know, I really should broaden my reading list a bit.)
Therefore I’m putting Marie’s question out to my readers. Can you recommend some blogs for her?
Ad Jesum per Mariam,
I don’t know of any, but if she starts blogging, maybe I will too. I’m a 20something unmarried Catholic woman. I love reading the Catholic homeschooling mom blogs because, well, I love the “woman” in them. There’s something so real about the women behind them, even if their lives are so very different from mine.
I don’t qualify in the age category and I am married but despite my plan to have at least six children, I only had one who lived. And he is 28 so I don’t blog about homeschooling or much about children. Although I am a middle school librarian. Sometimes it is hard not to have cute kids pictures to post, but I make do with the cats. LOL
Wow that sounds like me. I’m in my late 20s (wow that sounds weird….I just got up here last week!) and I’ve been blogging for a few years now. But all my “friends” are the cool homeschooling moms of big families. I aspire to that but that’s not my vocation at the moment. And I find it makes me sad at times. And there’s not much encouragement out there in the blog world for women like me. So…I’m not “professional” but I do blog and I’ve actually just decided in the past few days to actively start blogging again at Daughter of the King. I don’t know how interesting I am to read but I’m there 🙂
I’m a big fan of All You Who Hope (http://allyouwhohope.blogspot.com/).
Catholic Teacher Musings is written by a youngish (really, mid 40s is YOUNG) teacher at a Catholic school. She is married, but has no children, so no peanut butter smeared on toddler pics.
The Clam Rampant just got married this past weekend and is on her honeymoon. Now that the stress of the wedding is over, she may get back to her normal, amusing rants on surviving the workweek without losing her soul.
Margaret – thanks for posting this request for me! I so appreciate the opportunity to see what other awesome blogs are out there. I should probably clarify what I meant by “professional” – chalk it up to my career in finance – my common reference for other people in the working world are “business professionals”. Meaning that I love reading about stay at home moms, etc…but I also am very curious about how women live their faith fully, vibrantly, and without apology in the workplace / school. Because as much as I yearn to have children and to stay home with them, that doesn’t seem to be what my husband and I are called to do right now (e.g,. 2 recent miscarriages and no living children, etc.). Therefore, I want to give of myself as freely and fully as I can to my coworkers and to be a witness to the Gospel (although I am quite inept at this most of the time), but I want to try nonetheless. Thanks for the recommendations that have already been made. I am looking forward to reading them and any others that are recommended.
Jen — Glad you commented! You were the first person that popped in my head!
“Adoro te devote” fits the category.
http://adorotedevote.blogspot.com/
http://favoriteaunt.blogspot.com/ (young unmarried woman professional)
http://underachindolea.blogspot.com/
(Jesuit seminarian)
http://watcherofthemorn.blogspot.com/
(young unmarried woman professional)
These are a couple suggestions for Catholic blogs that are not mommy-driven. I know it’s hard – you’re in my prayers.
http://www.themagdalenesisters.blogspot.com/
“Three women trying to figure out what it means to be single, catholic, lay, and modern, all at once”
yes, I can! my friend, http://www.allyouwhohope.blogspot.com blogs candidly about her struggle with infertility (she links to other young married Catholic couples on her sidebar… most struggling with infertility). Some great blogs!
I don’t know Margaret, but I did want to pop in and tell Marie that she is in my prayers –
Well, to toot my own horn (LOL)
I have two blogs–http://www.bucketofparts.blogspot.com is my more “General” blog, where I write about my life after a double lung transplant.
Journeys of a catholic Poster Girl http://catholicpostergirl.stblogs.com is my Catholic only blog, which isn’t updated as regularly. There is religion talk on both, though!
I am 26, single, cradle Catholic who has just applied to FUS’s MA Theology program!
A HUGE ditto for Catholic Teacher Musings! Laura is awesome.
God Bless,
Jane
Don’t miss
http://www.GEOprincipleblog.com. If you are looking for practical advice for living your faith in the workplace, this is it….
The dreamer’s day is a great blog by a single women.
Roses and Jessamine is another great one
My sister doesn’t write often but has just 1 (after 10 years unable) she’s at blessedmomtoone.blogspot.com.
You might also check the Catholic Blog Awards. They have many different categories. One regular on those lists is The Anchoress.
I’ve just started reading The Daily Saint at http://www.thedailysaint.com/
He writes on merging prayer life and business life…might be worth a look.
http://www.agreatdeception.blogspot.com
an amazing blog by a young Catholic professional out of Denver Colorado
Come visit us at Church Ladies. Most of us are under 25, and all of us are or have been employed outside the home.
http://church-ladies.blogspot.com/
I second Alexis for watcherofthemorn.blogspot.com
She’s a good friend from college (FUS) who works as a journalist for a Catholic newspaper in Washington, D.C. She is gifted in her writing, and a beautiful lady living her faith.
I look back at my faith-life before marriage and motherhood, when I was just a working woman. I think I still have the same struggles, its just now my social group to evangelize isn’t co-workers and teens, it’s become extended family, neighbors, and sometimes fellow Catholics. The difference is I got little ones and a husband looking up to me and seeing how I handle it. [And I’ve grown up a lot.]
I’m a homeschooling mom and have my blog for that, but I also have a blog called Growing in Grace – writing about my thoughts about being a (almost) 30 year old Catholic woman in today’s world. You’re welcome to visit!
Marie,
I just wanted to say I am very sorry for your losses. I just had a miscarriage myself. I’ll pray for you.
I am looking forward to checking out some of these blog suggestions.
Janet
How about Adoro te Devote (adorotedevote.blogspot.com)…haven’t had time to go nosing around St. Blog’s, but maybe you can point her to St. Blog’s too… 🙂 If she starts a blog, tell her to let us all know! 🙂
I can definitely relate to Marie. I’m also searching for blogs written by young, Catholic, single or newly married women. I recently started my own blog, if she’d like to check it out.
Here’s my blog:
http://californiagirlandbostonboy.blogspot.com/
Thank you so much for posting this question! I read a lot of Catholic homeschooling mom blogs too, and they’re often lots of fun to read, but sometimes it gets me a little down (in my more lonely moments), because I really can’t relate to a lot of it. (Hopefully that will change sometime down the road, preferably sooner than later…) It’s a lot easier to find those blogs, though, than these other blogs.
So thank you, and thanks to everyone who have given suggestions!
Marie,
You are in my prayers. Miscarriages are so hard!
http://www.conversiondiary.com/
http://whispersintheloggia.blogspot.com/
http://somehavehats.typepad.com/
http://frmartinfox.blogspot.com/
http://dracutmusings.blogspot.com/
http://wdtprs.com/blog/
http://properlyscared.wordpress.com/
http://houseoftheinklings.blogspot.com/
http://hancaquam.blogspot.com/2008/02/fr-philip-neris-three-year-plan-for_29.html
http://psallitesapienter.blogspot.com/
Those are the Catholic non-mom ones I have. Hope at least one helps.
nobody has mentioned Cathy of Alex??
http://therecoveringdissidentcatholic.blogspot.com
Wow.
There certainly is a BIG hole in our church concerning support for the lives of Catholic couples without children.
Unfortunately people assume you don’t want them. (Or in my case, DIDN’T want them.)
For years I had to “fit in” with moms and try not to be hurt when they would say, “Oh, you won’t understand, you’re not a mom.”
or one said to me at a party, “What would you really know about responsiblity? You don’t have kids!”
(I forgave her quickly. How could she have known I had had a miscarriage a couple years before?)
I ask everyone to reach out to Catholic couples who don’t have kids. Especially younger couples who are trying to find a position in communities centered on families.
The day I woke up and decided to embrace it as a cross I would be bearing, my life changed.
I am full of a peace I did not have before.
Resources and support for young Catholic couples without children…a great need in our Church.