How HubPages Changed My Life

This is the first "answer to a request" that I have been asked to do. I'm not sure how many people really care how or why HubPages has affected my life, but my answer will at least not go unnoticed by one or two.

If any of you have read my profile, you will by now know that I am a single mom, raising a behaviourally challenged 13 year old. Unfortunately, due to the effects of the disability, I have been unable to work outside my home, so am on a very limited and fixed income, which at times can be akin to juggling chainsaws and bowling balls! So I have, for the last 10 years, been exploring work from home possibilities, home based businesses, entrepreneurial pursuits etc., etc, none of which seemed to fit the bill. (I'm sure there are a few people out there who have experienced some of these disappointments, so you know where I'm coming from.)

When I heard that I could make money writing online, I thought "How hard can it be to write?" and decided to give it a try. I can honestly say that it is one of the most rewarding activities that I have ever tried.

As far as other money making enterprises, I continued searching, and along the way discovered that I was talented enough to design jewelry and paint. My family had been trying to tell me this for years, and although I listened, I didn't hear them. (We come from a long line of artists, singers, dancers...tons of talent, little money...)

Around the time I joined Hub-Pages, I had discovered that in order to promote my jewelry online, I needed to market myself and my work. I had been writing a children's adventure series, and thought Hub-Pages would be a good platform to promote myself (apparently people like to know about the person they are buying from,) and hone my writing skills at the same time.

So I signed up, agonized over my first hub, and posted it. I kept checking back, several times a day, to see if anybody out there was actually interested in what I had to say, and was very pleased to see that, indeed, there were a few kind souls who read it and offered encouragement. This, of course, gave me the impetus to write and publish more.

I started getting comments on my hubs, and many of them appeared to be coming from people who weren't HubPages members, so I started learning about my stats and how to use them.

After a few months, it became apparent that these people were searching for answers to challenges similar to mine - living with ADHD and its attendant disorders. That, coupled with the notion that a published article could possibly help me get some attention for my children's series, I decided to submit an article about living with my son to online magazines - something I never would have contemplated before joining HubPages.

I took my first hub, polished it, and submitted it to Synergy Magazine. Low and behold, they published it. I was ecstatic! Someone, other than my family and friends thought my writing was good enough to appear in print. After this success, I was even more fired up to write, and posted a couple more hubs.

I also began thinking that maybe I could turn my article into a book, if, of course, I had enough information to fill that many pages, and my next project was born. Over the ensuing months, I wrote down what it was like raising my son, from birth to present, researching his disability, validating my experiences, and increasing my knowledge.

I began to realise that my words, ideas and solutions had value. I saw how much my first little hub helped to bring comfort and in some cases inspiration to other families who were going through similar challenges to my own and that fueled my desire to reach out and let them know they were not alone in their struggles.

The realization of the bigger picture jumped up and bit me. Not only could my words offer solace and support, they could be used to bring my son's disability, and millions more like him, the attention they deserve. I could use my little soap box and tell the world what it is like for these children, teens and adults to live, not only with this disability, but with the stigma of being an awful person whose parents obviously didn't raise them properly.

Not only have I succeeded in publishing a self-help book, "part-time Genius full-time Job", I have undertaken the responsibility of building an online community with resources, information and support for parents raising children with ADHD and its attendant disorders.

As of now, with my soap box firmly tucked under my arm, I am embarking on an exciting, life changing, and at times, very scary journey to spread the word. I have set my sights on Oprah, and "God willing, and the creeks don't rise", I hope to be sitting on her couch, waving like a kid at her first Christmas concert, to my family and friends who have helped make this possible.

Without finding HubPages and publishing my first hub, I never would have completed two books and over one hundred and twenty online articles. Since joining, I have discovered that I enjoy writing. Even as a child I had a fascination with blank paper and pencils.

I still have that same fascination, but I have managed to trade the pencil and paper for a laptop and tablet.

I must confess that over the last five years, I have not been able to write as often as I would have liked. My jobs and subsequent schooling took up most of my free time, and what I had left I used to raise my son. As I don't have that responsibility at the moment, (my son is living with his father,) I can once again turn my attention to writing. It is like meeting an old lover - at once comfortable and intimate.

For everyone who has stopped by to comment on my writing, leave words of encouragement, follow my writing, or in essence offered their support in any way, please accept my heartfelt 'thank you'!

The artwork depicted on this hub is copywrited, 2006 Enelle Lamb