To Blogland and Back

Recently, I was thinking allot about why I stopped blogging.  Yes, it was a bit about time because I took time gathering just the right photos and music for each post.

But not really because when I feel joy about something, I just need to share it.  No matter how busy I was in the beginning, I always found time to write a post.

I think I stopped blogging because I forgot why I had started in the first place.  In the beginning I wanted to create posts about things I wanted to share.  Each post was a creative endeavor.

Soon I got wrapped up with all the blogging parties and events.  At first it was fun.  Before I knew it I was giving my time and posts away to meet other people's topics.  As time went on, these blogging events had rules, you can only join if.  At that point I no longer enjoyed posting and I just didn't know why.

I literally would run to Home Goods to purchase dishes for a themed blogging party.  Then one day my daughter asked me if she could have a piece of cake or was it for my blog.  HELLO.  Then I knew my priorities had truly gotten out of hand.   I found myself asking Who am I, why am I here in the Land of Blog anyway.

Yes, and in-between the busyness of life got in the way.  Adversity brought me back to writing again about awakening to a new view of things.  Soon, I wanted to share what I had discovered while I had been away.

I also wanted to think about why I left in the first place, so that it doesn't happen again.

I suppose blogging again reflects the chapter I am in now.  Now I want to create posts about the joy and beauty I see in life.  Celebrating God's gifts helps me to cope with adversity.  Taking time to celebrate and memorize the beauty around me brings me joy.

This chapter of my life seems to be all about simplifying my life so that I can enjoy God's gifts.

I know that so many of you are also coming back home to blogging. Blogging about what you want to write about.

We can all learn from Cinderella.  "You do not find a happy life, you make it"!  She was always singing despite the cinders of her life.  Yes, lately there has been an abundance of cinders in my life.  But I must keep singing, writing and blogging.

Thank you for a lovely year

Thank you for taking walks with me through gardens

and strolls at the beach.



For making me smile,



and for giving me a reason to take a snapshot or two...



For giving me a reason to write,



for going with me on adventures into the land of imagination,



and for inspiring me to create.

 

For allowing me a place to share my love of old books,



and my Great Aunt Adelaide's keeper of the memories.

I have so appreciated every encouraging word that you have left in your comments.

I just wanted to say,

that there is so much to be thankful for...

and you are one of those reasons I am so thankful.

As I started to write a thank you letter, looking back over the year in blogging, I wanted to let you know how much you mean to me!

To Blog or not to Blog that is the question

The year was 2005 and I was spending time on the computer reading blogs.  Trust me, it didn't take too much time then because most of the blogs could only be found on the sidebar of Amy's at Inspire Company.  I wanted to find all the blogs in the Land of Blog.

Once I started reading blogs, I was hooked.  I wanted to know how I could connect with this young and vibrant group of women who were involved in something called the Cottage Industry.

I wrote my first post on January 6, 2006.  I was blogging BAB...

Before Artful Blogging magazine was on the newstands,

When you mentioned that you had a blog, and the person's eyes glazed over
and they said "You have a what"?

You had to pay a web designer a fortune if we wanted a custom template. There were no free gorgeous backgrounds.

 A time when you spent time in your art studio without wonderful feedback that kept you inspired.

During the days when no one really had great photos like they do today, and before we all had buttons to link back to our blogs or were clueless why you would need them in the first place.

It was a time when we were discovering new places and excited about it all.  I recently thought long and hard and I realized that I needed to find my zest again.  What I realized when I thought about the question To Blog or not to Blog...

Is that I receive way more than I give...

I find inspiration when my creative muse takes a vacation,

I discover warm and thoughtful posts,

and receive Comments that feed my soul.

For me, I don't want to blog less, I want to learn how I can give more to this wonderful little spot in the universe so I can continue to grow. I want to add even more inspiration.  The same inspiration that you all give to me every day, and for that I am eternally grateful.

Blogging is just like creating a quilt, with one square at a time, until you have created a quilt and somehow it feels like love when you wrap it around you.  Those pieces represent the people behind the blogs that I have met along the way, and to me these are the friendships that I just cannot live without.

Now I wrap myself up in the cozy quilt made up of all the lovely things I can find in The Land of Blog.

I am inspired, uplifted and encouraged in my life every day with this wonderful thing called blogging. I guess Blogging always makes me smile and brings me On The Sunnyside of The Street.

Please feel free to take home any artwork from this post for your personal use.