Meet the Mommy Blogger: Sharon van Wyk of The Blessed Barrenness

Ever come across a piece of writing that makes your heart go “aaaack”? Or do you find yourself reading something whilst quietly sobbing at your desk, like a lunatic, for people you have yet to meet? Well, friend, that’s me (on a good day anyways) visiting the blogs of my fellow mommy bloggers. And that’s me pretty much every time I visit Sharon van Wyk’s blog over at The Blessed Barrenness. I was introduced to Sharon’s blog a few years ago and my heart did all kinds of flip flops as I found my self re-reading heart wrenching posts where she shared about her struggles with infertility and the beautiful journey of adoption.

Blessed barrenness
I love the name of the blog. I mean how kick ass of Sharon to turn something that has brought anguish, into celebration! I admire the spunk and vivacity of this woman so much! And blessed she is indeed (judging by her Instagram feed – yeah, I’m a stalker) with a loving husband and two beautiful girls who simply adore her. She shares that the blog has changed since its conception in 2008, and is now a combo of personal story telling, parenting and basically anything else that sparks her interest.

“Interestingly, even though my style has morphed and changed over the years, I have never deleted any of my old posts. There is something about those old posts that’s comfortable like a worn shoe and I just can’t seem to let them go. So if you go back on The Blessed Barrenness, you can read posts from as far back as 2008.”

Sharon explains that for her blogging has become so much more than just words on a website. A lot of creativity and thought is invested into the design, layout, creating, editing of photos and videos. It really is a labour of love! She refers to it as soul food. (Interestingly, her posts about food are quite popular – she knows her high carb/low fat stuff, you guys!)

She has played a ginormous role in the blogging community at large and nabbed the African Blogger Award for best parenting blog in 2015. With so many doors opening for her (TV, radio and print media) she sometimes finds the demands of running a blog and maintaining a healthy home/work balance to be a bit challenging. I mean, being a mom is a full time job! Who has the time (or energy) to sit down to write and create after a full day at the office and at home. But despite the ebbs and flows of creativity her 4am wake up calls and late night laptop rendezvous’ certainly is paying off because The Blessed Barrenness continues to inspire and capture hearts all around the country.

“Blogging has exposed me to an array of interesting people and experiences. It’s definitely taught me a lot of lessons, I’m more socially aware and I think kinder because of it.”

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Sharon is quite the banting expert! Her banting recipes are quite popular and a must read if you’re all about that low carb life. (#breadmustfall)

She’s also doing a bunch of cool stuff with Builders Warehouse and Cool Kids Cabs this year which should be up your ally if you’re looking for tips on home improvement and if you’re a mom.

I also love Sharon’s stance on being body positive. She is pretty honest about her life long struggle with breaking her negative mindset towards her body and food.

And of corse, if you’re looking to read more about adoption, Sharon is an adoption advocate and she has a lot to share! “My eyes have been opened to all sides of the adoption triad, to the joy and the miracle, the pain and the loss and I have tried to show all sides of that to fairly represent adoption in South Africa.”

You can also follow her in Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Youtube and Instagram.