Want to know a secret? By nature, I am not a journaling kind of person.... Yet I love to blog... strange, I know! It is a struggle for me to sit down every day and write in a book my feelings and thoughts for the day. It always feels like it needs to be well rounded and thought out {like my English teacher taught me years ago} and have meaning and purpose. Often times, it feels like I just can't write what's "on my mind." I like the idea of journaling. It would be great to pass on months and months of journals to my kids someday and let them see what Ma was up to. But I just can't get into it consistently.
But I do go through spurts where I just need a safe place to let it all out - good or bad - and then once that season has passed, I often will stop journaling for a whle and pick it pack up again at a later time.
This particular journal was a great find for this week. I sat and read every page -and smiled the whole way through. Why? In these pages I had written about the first blog that had inspired me - Reluctant Entertainer. And without even knowing it, I was journaling the first baby steps of "too Blessed to Stress." Little did I know in November of 2008 that the season I was going through would be just the push I needed to start my blog, and reach out to other women who are {or have been} in the same place.
In the pages of scribbling, I found these words I had written:
"I feel like I am in a winter season. But not an overwhelming 'there is no hope' stage. It is a simply a winter to spring era. So many aspects of my life are in spring, but there is still a trace of winter in my life. Maybe I should call it 'Spring-desperately-wanting-to-blossom-in-spite-of-winter' season."
Those words pretty much sum up the reason for my determination to reach out, share my ideas, learn from others that I may never even meet face to face and make my blog public.
For so long, I was waiting to share till everything was just right and in it's place. And that day in November, it was like something just clicked.
"No More Waiting!" my heart screamed.
It was so freeing to know that I don't have to have it all together before I can share about homemaking, hospitality and making memories. There is no need have all the answers... becasue I don't have them all! And I never will. But I can share my journey along the way while finding the answers.
Who would have ever thougth that my 'Spring-desperately-wanting-to-blossom-in-spite-of-winter' season would become such a blessing to me in the form of this blog. You all have made this experience so wonderful and I am looking forward to MANY more days of sharing with you and learning from you talented gals as well.
And who know what may come of this blog? I have great plans for it, but maybe it will be the baby steps to even bigger and greater things that I could ever imagine. I sure hope so!
Are you stuck in between seasons? Is your heart still frozen in the dead of winter? Could it be that sharing your life {full of ups and downs} with someone is just the thing your heart needs to break out and experience the warmth of spring?
All photos taken by yours truly.
Linking to WFMW.
Oh, wow, I am touched. Thank you sweet friend, I'm happy that I could help inspire. It's neat to see how you've taken off and what do you have up your sleeve? :)
ReplyDeleteI am so glad you found Reluctant Entertainer! You have a wonderful blog and I love reading all your posts. I'm just like you. I love the idea of journaling and I will journal a few days here and a couple of months later, I'll journal about a week, and then of course life gets in the way and I don't for a few months. But hey, that's why I have pictures now. LOL! Although pictures don't always evoke a feeling, I'm crossing my fingers my kids will remember the good stuff that happens in thier life. Who knows, maybe one day they will journal about it. Here's to hoping!
ReplyDeleteOh, Emily, I'm so glad you decided to blog! You have already inspired at least one person...me!! Your blog posts have inspired me to rediscover the "creative" side of me (which has been buried for TOO long!). By creating just a few "you-inspired" things, I am already feeling more "springy" and less "wintry". :-) So, THANKS!
ReplyDelete*hugs and smiles*
debbi
I love your blog :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments... in answer to your question I make rub-ons using 'Rub-onz' that I found at Hobby Lobby... I found it in the scrapbook section and you can make rub-ons from anything you can find on the computer! :)
Chickaloo, what a great post! I feel many times I'm in that "in between" period that you described. Wether it's my relationship with God, my role as a Momma, my role as a wife or just finding the center of "me". I feel that I always have this tugging at my heart, that I want change and it's a comin'. Thanks for sharing your thoughts, what a great reminder that NO ONE but God, his Son and the Holy Spirit have it all together;)
ReplyDelete