I first thought about starting a blog website 10 years ago.  But I didn’t.  And now I’m kicking myself for waiting so long.  I’m so far behind in the race now, I don’t know how to ever catch up.

Ten years ago I had a community email distribution list.  I loved it.  I shared all kinds of information from concerts to playgroups, charity fundraisers to neighborhood crime, summer camps to missing pets.  You know, community stuff.

I loved writing the emails and I loved feeling like I was bringing the community together, even in just a small way.  The distribution list started as just my neighborhood and as it grew to surrounding cities and towns, my ideas grew.  My game plan grew.  I wanted to bring people together in a big way.

But my doubts and insecurities also grew.  It’s one thing to send out informal emails.  When you keep expectations low and simple, you don’t have far to fall if things don’t go as you want.  When you tell everyone your grandiose ideas, you set yourself up for not just a possible fall, but a possible FAIL.

When I joined Facebook, my distribution list eventually went away.  As more and more of the people on my email list were also on my FB friend list, I turned my focus to Facebook.  And then as I realized there was a group or a page for pretty much everything anyone could ever want to know, my need to share information seemed to fade away too.

Yes, the list went away.  But my ideas didn’t.  I still felt the need to create some kind of global “community.”  Some way for people to connect.  Some way for people to help each other.  But I didn’t know how.  I didn’t know where to start.  I didn’t know what to do.  So I didn’t.  For ten whole years, I didn’t.

But I wanted to.  I even had a name for it.  “Momopoly: The Real Game Of Life.”  It would include Community Chest, an online community to share information.  Chance for those in need of one.  Reading Railroad for an online book club.  Get Out Of Jail Free for a place to vent and talk about your struggles without judgement.  The list went on…

Unfortunately, I waited so long that when I finally decided to start my blog…the name Momopoly had already been used.  Twice.  Of course it had.  What did I expect by waiting 10 years without doing anything about my idea while millions of others were jumping on the blogging train?

It’s one of those times you wish you could turn back the clock.  Have a do-over.  Give me a Mulligan please!!   Why did I wait so long?  By this point, there probably aren’t ANY original ideas left.

However, I did manage to find a blog name that hadn’t been used.  And Momopolize began.  Not my first choice, but it will work.  It is close enough to Momopoly that I still could potentially use the “Real Game Of Life”  concept.  We’ll see.

And the more I try to learn about the blogging rules, the more I realize writing is actually a small part of it.  Getting followers is as much work as trying to be a first round draft pick.  And without droves of followers, even the best ideas are futile.

So where do I go from here with Momopolize?  Will I keep it simple and safe?  Or try to bring my ideas into play?  I don’t know.  But I will stay in the game.  Even if I joined the team 10 years too late.