Mind Wandering

If you’ve read my About page, you already know the general idea of who I am and what this space is meant to feel like. But that’s the overview, the “nice to meet you.” This post is more like the “pull up a chair and let me tell you how this actually started” version.

Blogging. Why did I decide to start? Honestly, the better question is when I even started thinking about it. To be completely honest, it all started with a couple of movies: Confessions of a Shopaholic and Julie & Julia. They made me think I could do this, but I didn’t want my name out there. I am not an attention seeker at heart.

I loved the idea of a hidden blog, like the Girl in the Green Scarf. There’s something freeing about being a tucked away, anonymous voice. Being heard without being stared at. It made me realize I really could do this. I’ve always loved to read, and I realized I enjoy writing too, but not in a “write a whole book” way. More in a conversational, columnist, talk-to-me-like-a-human way. So, for almost 20 years, it’s just been an idea sitting there. And if you saw my first post, you know exactly why it took this long.

So why now, and why this blog?

Honestly, it was just time. I finally know who I am, and I’m much more confident in that person. And like many people, I’m looking for a way to make a little extra money that actually fits who I am and how I live. So here I am, older (with the grey hair to prove it, though my hairdresser does a fantastic job hiding it), wiser, or maybe “seasoned,” though that makes me sound like a roast and cooking is definitely not my forte, and just not caring what people think anymore. Which, oddly enough, seems to offend people when you say it out loud.

This blog finally came into its own over the last few months because I figured out what I wanted it to be. A place for me and my other half to express ourselves, share our thoughts, observations, experiences, and the occasional product we genuinely like. What am I blogging about? Life. The lived in, messy, funny, frustrating, beautiful reality of it. What we see, hear, taste, read, watch, and trip over. If it catches our attention, it’ll probably end up here.

I’ve been told many times by friends, family, and even people I’ve just met that I should start a blog (or be a therapist or a lawyer). Apparently, I’ve been known to give suggestions, advice, and observations that actually help people, usually delivered with a little wit and sarcasm that somehow makes them listen. Now, if only I could take my own advice and suggestions. I’m a classic case of knowing exactly what everyone else should do while my own life sits in the waiting room. My running joke is that I should start a business where I’m not a therapist, just a paid best friend who holds up a mirror and lets you see yourself.

Do I know everything? Absolutely not. But as I’ve gotten older, I’ve realized how often we don’t say what we’re really thinking. We swallow it or soften it. But we shouldn’t. We don’t have to be rude or aggressive. We can say what we need to say with dignity and grace. That’s what this blog is about.