Me Being Me

Print by Lay Baby Lay

Blogging.

I love it.

I love reading blogs, following them, sharing my favorites with friends. And, of course, I quite enjoy writing one of my own.

When I began blogging, I had no theme in mind, much less a direction I planned to take it. Like most things in life, it took shape as time went on until, one day, I had folks that tuned in on a regular basis. (It still baffles and humbles me to this day that anyone would take time out of her day to read about my very unexciting life. And, it really does mean a lot to me.)

After a few years, people referred to my blog as a fashion blog; an appropriate title seeing as how I wrote primarily about clothing, accessories and trends. I took photos of my outfits and even had a little styling business (emphasis on "little") as a tiny side job locally where I shopped for people who didn't like to shop for themselves. (They exist. Crazy, right?)

But, in the midst of all the style-focused content, I still loved to connect with readers on a different level. I liked to write from the heart and have the occasional deep discussion. I think, amid all the skirts and peplum jackets, I longed to turn this web address into something more.

After I got married, I wanted to write about other things: relationships, family, faith, my job and pregnancy. For these are/were the things that made my world go 'round and 'round. They lit my fire every day and made me want to write words.

And then, I had Caroline. Suddenly, as much as I loved all the fashiony business, I loved writing about baby girl even more. I loved writing about mom stuff. And being a wife. And my career. I felt compelled to start writing more from the heart and less about "fluff", (even though "fluff" has always and will always have a place here.)

I had finally given myself the grace to just be me. Don't get me wrong; I love putting together a cute outfit, or filming a hair tutorial and occasionally sharing it with the web world. But, at this place in my life, it's not what gets me out of bed in the morning. And, it's certainly not what drives me to keep writing on here. My priorities have changed.

And I love that.

For the first time in a long time, I feel like I don't have to tie a label to this blog. I feel like I can just let it be what it is: a direct reflection of my life at the moment. I felt like it took becoming a mother to empower me to do that. Not that I was living a lie before, but y'all - I would literally have days where I would stress over getting a post up about the latest wedge sandal because, "Oh my gosh, I haven't done a footwear post in forever!" (The horror.)

This isn't some mission statement to say that I'm changing the direction of the blog. In fact, what you've seen in the past few months is precisely what you'll continue to see: motherhood posts, outfit photos, random thoughts, Confessional Friday, recipes, etc.

I'll certainly post the occasional outfit photo and we'll be talking summer trends here. Fashion and hair and make-up will always be a part of this blog because those things truly are something I enjoy talking about with you all. But, I've enjoyed writing on here more in the last couple months than I ever have. I feel a bigger connection to all of you. And, isn't that what a having blog is all about? I think so.

It's empowering to be yourself, isn't it?