Contrary to what one would expect, Noemi's blog is not about doom and gloom; it is all about positivity and joy.As she wrote, "want to offer hope. That there is a new normal after the loss of a child. Death is a part of life. I ‘ve realized this place we live in is only a temporary place and that eternal life is in heaven. Like my son said before he died “when I die, I will be alive again!!".
 
A deep sense of hope and spirituality pervades Noemi's blog. But other than this, her personal site illustrates the life of a multi-faceted woman who is a wife, mother, businesswoman (she is the lady behind Pinoy Webhosting), constant learner and therefore, a very well-rounded blogger. More in the following interview:
 
 
Q. How did you start to blog and why?

A. I started a blog as my son's memorial site on June 2000 but I could hardly express myself. I ended up writing trivial stuff like site news and updates but nothing about  feelings or my loss. My aboutmyrecovery.com blog started in February 2006 because I wanted to reach out to bereaved  families in the Philippines. Through my blog, I aimed to promote the grief support group, "The Compassionate Friends" ( http://compassionatefriends.info)  which I started last year with Cathy Babao-Guballa and Alma Miclat. It's basically a grief and recovery blog but I also talk about myself, my family's recovery, my health recovery , the internet and commentaries about significant and trivial events.

Q. Your daughter Lauren, who we featured before as the first Pinoy blogger, started blogging before you. What did she have to say when you started blogging? How about the rest of the family's reactions?

A. My daughter and the rest of the family were supportive.  They knew that   "The Compassionate Friends" was being written about in traditional media such as the newspapers, magazines, radio and even on TV shows. Blogging is another form of media that I needed to include. So it was no surprise to them at all. However, I don't think my family reads my blog.

Q.  How do you aim to help those who have lost their loved ones through this blog of yours? Would you tell them to blog for therapy also?

A. Sharing the changes in my new life are shown in my blog entries. Basically, I want to offer hope. That there is a new normal after the loss of a child.  I also talk about grief recovery and grief education.  Since grief is universal,  the bereaved reader can somehow relate to some of my experiences. They usually email me and discuss their losses even if it's not about the death of a child. Grief can pertain to personal losses as well.  Blogging is also a therapy just like journalling in a paper journal. However, I don't know of a blogger who writes about their grief . It's quite difficult to express grief when the loss is just so fresh. I know only of recovery blogs like my friend , Cathy's midlifemama.net

Q.  I think you also had a post before on how people should relate to those dealing with their grief. Can you expound on this again?

A. Part of the mission of "The Compassionate Friends" is  to provide information to help others be supportive. The  Filipino culture expects us to smile and get over our loss in a few months.  That is not possible. As long as we live and love, grieving is a lifelong journey. I blogged  "Words of Comfort"  because there are no words that will make it all right that someone we loved has died. But there are words that can soothe the hurt, ease the loneliness and add to the healing.

Q. What do you like about blogging as a personal activity?

A. Since my business involves the internet, blogging is one way to amuse myself and  stimulate my creativity during my break.

Q. You've been involved in internet projects since way back, how do you think the online world has changed since then, especially with regards to blogging?

A. The word "Blog"  popped up in 1998. Before the word blog was coined, It was called an online journal.  Before the popularity of the blogs, the traditional  blog  focused outside the blogger and their site. 'The author logs all the other webpages that are interesting. Now the online journal looked inward such as the author's thoughts, experiences, and opinions. Hence, online journals had very long entries. Journals are about them, and blogs are about where they go on the web. Today, the trend of blogs encompass  the  concept of the traditional blog and online journal .  Journal sites existing prior to 2002 had  active community-based message boards to discuss  journal entries.  Blogs have shorter entries which is good because there are a more blogs to read these days.

Q. What blogging trends do you see in the future?

A. I envision two trends. First, more local companies will implement an official blog. They will also advertise through text link ads in some of our blogs. Hiring  bloggers  to write about their products or services in their company blogs might follow soon. I got the latter idea from a UK teen fashion store who wanted to know how much my daughter will charge per entry.  Secondly, the more established bloggers will publish  a book.

Q. What can you say about WP as a content management system

A. Wordpress is very user friendly and offers a wide range of templates and plugins. I wished it had multiple user  feature though so that I  can log in to just one admin panel and blog to two or more blogs from there.

Q. Please tell us more about the design of your blog.

A. I use ready-made templates only because I don't have the time to create or customize one. Web design was a hobby in the past but with a busy online business, it  can be so time consuming.  What I do is customize the headers and add Wordpress plugins to enhance the site. I also practice search engine optimization when it comes to blog titles,  keywords and content management so that my blog can easily be found through search engines.

Q. Do you abide by certain blogging philosophies? What are these?

A. I am aware that I am publishing words for public consumption, and  hence, I have  ethical obligations to my readers, the people I  write about, and the society in general. The most important of which is confidentiality and  privacy. I also believe that blogs are different from journalism and that I can write my opinions and advocacy without worrying what my readers will think. Let me just add that even if the blogger has the freedom to write anything they want, they are still bound by the Terms of Service of their webhosting or the blog hosting provider and also suffer legal consequences if laws are violated.

Q. What are your online/blogging habits?

When I wake up, I  check my emails immediately and reply to them. Then I manage my webhosting business by activating orders  or talking to customers over the phone . During my break, I check out my blog to see if there are comments and then surf to my bookmarks. Site optimization of my other sites is another activity .  I usually write my entries at night when I am more relaxed. In between these online activities, I spend two hours at the gym because sitting down in the computer for hours  is bad for my health.
 
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