Fresh Start

This new blog has been a long time coming.  And I am quite excited by the prospect of reconnecting with old friends and meeting new ones.

I first started blogging in December, 2008.  I was a full-time English teacher who thrived on reading anything she could get her hands on.  I established myself as a "book blogger" and thoroughly enjoyed reading the reviews of others - and writing a few of my own.

But a lot has happened in the past 4+ years.  I lost my mother (the last living grandparent) and thus  became the "matriarch" of the family.  My youngest graduated from high school and moved into her own apartment, thrusting me into the proverbial "empty nest" phase of life.  My eldest gave birth to a beautiful daughter and I became a grandmother.  My son married his high school sweetheart.  My full-time career transitioned into a very part-time job.  And somewhere along the way... I lost sight of me.

Over the past few months I have been exploring "me" --- the me of the past, present, and future.  I have discovered that for most of these past fifty years, I have defined my life by the roles I play:  mother, wife, sister, daughter, teacher, student, friend.... etc.  I have lived life for others and according to their expectations (or what I imagined their expectations to be).  And of course I have failed miserably for it is true that you cannot please all of the people all of the time.

But I am determined to reconnect with the me of the past ... and to become the me that I am destined to be.  I plan to use the devotional messages of Rick Warren and Joyce Meyer to help through this process, as well as the workshops of Julia Cameron through her books, The Artist's Way and The Vein of Gold.  I have read numerous books on spiritual as well as expressive journaling and have tried to maintain a writing routine for the past six weeks or so.

Through these exercises I hope to rediscover my creative side and hopefully find other outlets of self-expression such as music - photography - cooking - travel - paper crafts - and who knows, I may even attempt a canvas painting or two.    This blog will serve to document my journey into the past in order to find a direction for my future. I will certainly post a few book reviews because reading is still an integral part of my life, but my interests are so much more varied now. I want a space where I can feel free to share all of me and not just one small facet of my personality.  I believe this ongoing emergence from the sheltered cocoon into the completed transformation into the liberated butterfly is that perfect space.  I thank you for joining me on this adventurous journey.