kokonutz

Meh, looked like some counseling-speak. Although Daraius is beating himself up a bit too much.

HouFly

from reading the post it seems that's exactly what led to the divorce. Daraius seems to have had no idea how big MMS would eventually blow up to become. the tolls, pressures and no-doubt behind the scenes intricacies of running a full-fledged business (which it is now- and as a brand, larger than life.)

he and emily were both thrust into this level of fame and quasi-celebrity status even if limited in its reach/scope due to the content of the travel blog. still they put a good chunk of their life out there too and as we know from the youtube vlogger craze currently under way -- 'real reality tv' is all the rage these days. ppl wanna peer into your life and see whats going on.

Adam1222

He seems to have totally missed the point of counseling if his business is going to continue unchanged. I'm not "happy" for the couple, but I am hopeful that this might help the readers sucked into idyllizing the "life" MMS was selling to realize that it wasn't a life after all.

I'm pretty confident "fame" doesn't apply to these two. The pressures of working with your spouse, making vacations about getting the right photos, and a complete lack of self awareness that was patent in most posts add up. Also, it could be that they weren't a match to begin with.

The fact that the comment section is filled with Christ references is interesting. MMS has always struck me as having a very different demo than some other blogs : an extremely low quality of/ simple writing, and written by a straight couple.

Astrophsx

Someone pointed out in the comments that his whole counseling retreat was compensated and he didn't clearly disclose that. Not sure if that is true, but it could have had be the reason it wasn't effective.

FallenPlat

The combination of "a complete lack of self awareness that was patent in most posts" and "an extremely low quality of . . . simple writing" has made the blog completely unreadable for me. How can the thing possibly be pitched so low?

Reading it is like reading one single-entendre joke after another. Even one is too many.

This becomes especially apparent if you compare it to, in order, TPG, View from the Wing, and OMAAT. Or Doctor of Credit, for that matter.

I truly wish the authors well of course, but their blog isn't for me -- and never will be.

(I should add that Mommy Points also gets full points for self-awareness.)

Adam1222

Agreed. I actually unsubscribed to MMS a year ago, and despite my ethical and other problems with TPG/OMAAT can at least scan them without feeling angry/stupider.

84fiero

Are you suggesting that low quality, simple writing attracts Christians?

TexasYankee

if this is like everything else he has written about which is full of non truths and plagiarisms I suspect this to be a great example of "click bait".

Astrophsx

What are your ethical problems?

Adam1222

Not the right forum for that discussion, but I've shared them extensively in other fora.

bthotugigem05

I feel bad but hopeful after reading their post a few times. A post like that can be unbelievably hard to write but accomplishes two things: 1) it's therapeutic in the sense that it's out there in public and is more real to them and 2) helps them both control the message and tell people on their terms, instead of people finding out through the rumor mill.

I applaud their bravery in talking about something so private in such a public forum, it sounds like they've both found a peace about the situation and I hope the lessons they both learned will aid them in life and future relationships.

I know MMS is a big brand but it's refreshing from time to time to read posts from Daraius instead of MMS. Even in that post you can immediately tell when it went back into brand-building mode.

jpetekYXMD80

That is too bad. I put the post into google translate to better understand

Daraius: It took me 8 years to ascertain what you probably were able to do in 2 paragraphs: i married a 35 year old 3rd grader

Emily: First when we got married it was very good! Then later on it was not so good and I didn't like it as much as the beginning

84fiero

Blogger ethics is a frequent topic of discussion in this forum.

Adam1222

Agreed. I meant this particular thread isn't the place to talk about my concerns with *other* bloggers.

nineworldseries

You know, I don't even really mind the simplistic, repetitive, 3rd-grade level writing style of the blog and all of the circles and arrows. What drives me nuts is his (their?) absolutely interminable obsession with awful stock photography. Got a story about a credit card? Swipe an embarrassingly terrible stock photo of a kid in glasses with a piggy bank. Something about a beach? How about a circa-1991 stock photo of people on a beach that looks ripped off from a Sandals ad? It just makes the blog look really cheesy, dated, and unprofessional.