So, here I sit. FINALLY writing a blog post again. We have moved all over the Eastern half of the nation, quite literally, since my last post more than 3 years ago (Ohio to Alabama to Virginia). I cannot believe I haven't written on here for 3 YEARS! And, true to my natural propensity, the first thing I do is feel guilty about that. I tell myself not to, but that really does nothing. Then I look at the margin of the page where "The Blogs I Follow" are listed. Ahhh, now I feel better! My friends, authors of listed blogs, have also found other things to do in time ranging anywhere from a few weeks ago to six years ago, so I feel better about the distraction of life that has kept me from blogging. The crazy thing is, I really enjoy writing this blog, but for some reason I just haven't done it. Originally, I began this blog for my kids. I thought it would be neat to be able to compile posts about them throughout the years and present the written collection to them as some fabulous gift when they each turn 18. And while that may still happen, although I doubt it, over time, my reasons for blogging became more about me. I enjoy it. I like to write. There is something meaningful and clarifying about it for me. I like sharing my experiences as a woman, wife and mother during this fun, hectic and sometimes very difficult season of life. I like finding my voice through writing and enjoy thinking that someone, somewhere "out there" reads it and relates to it. That somehow, something that I have to say makes someone smile, laugh or just feel better about the struggles they are experiencing. I like sharing my personal interests, battles and obsessions: ranging anywhere from my cute kids to my handsome hubby, to my frustrating dilemmas to my exciting accomplishments, to my really cute outfit to my Stella & Dot jewelry, to my favorite shade of nail polish to a beauty hack I just saw online, to a disconcerting world event or political situation to fun thing I just heard about. You get the idea; I'm all over the place! But so is life, right? I mean one week, I'm a great cook diligently planning meals made from only whole foods; the next, I'm mother of the year, making one-on-one time for each of my kids doing enjoyable, learning activities of their choosing. In another week, I have my house completely cleaned and organized without a single stack of clutter. The next week, I am an exercise enthusiast, faithfully wearing my fitbit, actually doing the workouts I eagerly "pinned" however many months ago, posting details of my daily sweat session, complete with a picture, for all of Facebook to read and not care about, and drinking half my body weight in water. And some weeks, I am a fierce fashionista with trendy, well-accessorized outfits, looking perfectly polished for each day's events, wowing my instagram followers with my #ootd. In another week, I have my political views firmly in place and have appropriately selected our next President through the debate in my brain which was thoughtfully informed by reading a well-balanced compilation of news sources. But most weeks, I am none of those things, or maybe a small part of each of those things. And, I am coming to terms with that. It is OK to be OK at something. In fact, many would call that being "well-rounded," and that is a very good thing to be. Sometimes I think we have disengaged with the notion of being a "Jack of all trades; master of none." We think we need to be the "Master of all trades or have 'jack' to do with it." I used to let the notion of having to be perfect prevent me from trying a lot of things. But somewhere along the line I gave myself permission to be "pretty good" rather than attempting to be perfect. Perfection is REALLY hard, unrealistic and unsustainable. And, in my pursuit of being a recovering perfectionist, I have found, that "pretty good" is pretty awesome! We can't let the need for perfection prevent us from trying. Over time, we may find that practice does make perfect, but even if not, at least we are DOING something through the practice. But we must BEGIN in order to get any practice. So, to all of you who pressure yourselves with the strive for perfection, I give you permission to stop. Just be pretty good because that is pretty awesome too! And, while I would like to be able to say that I will heretofore write in this blog faithfully each week from now until the end of time, I know that won't likely be the case, so I won't even put that pressure on myself. What I do know, is that when I have the time, I will take it and share my thoughts openly and honestly while continuing to strive for "pretty good."
Friday, August 21, 2015
I'm Doing Pretty Good. How are you?
So, here I sit. FINALLY writing a blog post again. We have moved all over the Eastern half of the nation, quite literally, since my last post more than 3 years ago (Ohio to Alabama to Virginia). I cannot believe I haven't written on here for 3 YEARS! And, true to my natural propensity, the first thing I do is feel guilty about that. I tell myself not to, but that really does nothing. Then I look at the margin of the page where "The Blogs I Follow" are listed. Ahhh, now I feel better! My friends, authors of listed blogs, have also found other things to do in time ranging anywhere from a few weeks ago to six years ago, so I feel better about the distraction of life that has kept me from blogging. The crazy thing is, I really enjoy writing this blog, but for some reason I just haven't done it. Originally, I began this blog for my kids. I thought it would be neat to be able to compile posts about them throughout the years and present the written collection to them as some fabulous gift when they each turn 18. And while that may still happen, although I doubt it, over time, my reasons for blogging became more about me. I enjoy it. I like to write. There is something meaningful and clarifying about it for me. I like sharing my experiences as a woman, wife and mother during this fun, hectic and sometimes very difficult season of life. I like finding my voice through writing and enjoy thinking that someone, somewhere "out there" reads it and relates to it. That somehow, something that I have to say makes someone smile, laugh or just feel better about the struggles they are experiencing. I like sharing my personal interests, battles and obsessions: ranging anywhere from my cute kids to my handsome hubby, to my frustrating dilemmas to my exciting accomplishments, to my really cute outfit to my Stella & Dot jewelry, to my favorite shade of nail polish to a beauty hack I just saw online, to a disconcerting world event or political situation to fun thing I just heard about. You get the idea; I'm all over the place! But so is life, right? I mean one week, I'm a great cook diligently planning meals made from only whole foods; the next, I'm mother of the year, making one-on-one time for each of my kids doing enjoyable, learning activities of their choosing. In another week, I have my house completely cleaned and organized without a single stack of clutter. The next week, I am an exercise enthusiast, faithfully wearing my fitbit, actually doing the workouts I eagerly "pinned" however many months ago, posting details of my daily sweat session, complete with a picture, for all of Facebook to read and not care about, and drinking half my body weight in water. And some weeks, I am a fierce fashionista with trendy, well-accessorized outfits, looking perfectly polished for each day's events, wowing my instagram followers with my #ootd. In another week, I have my political views firmly in place and have appropriately selected our next President through the debate in my brain which was thoughtfully informed by reading a well-balanced compilation of news sources. But most weeks, I am none of those things, or maybe a small part of each of those things. And, I am coming to terms with that. It is OK to be OK at something. In fact, many would call that being "well-rounded," and that is a very good thing to be. Sometimes I think we have disengaged with the notion of being a "Jack of all trades; master of none." We think we need to be the "Master of all trades or have 'jack' to do with it." I used to let the notion of having to be perfect prevent me from trying a lot of things. But somewhere along the line I gave myself permission to be "pretty good" rather than attempting to be perfect. Perfection is REALLY hard, unrealistic and unsustainable. And, in my pursuit of being a recovering perfectionist, I have found, that "pretty good" is pretty awesome! We can't let the need for perfection prevent us from trying. Over time, we may find that practice does make perfect, but even if not, at least we are DOING something through the practice. But we must BEGIN in order to get any practice. So, to all of you who pressure yourselves with the strive for perfection, I give you permission to stop. Just be pretty good because that is pretty awesome too! And, while I would like to be able to say that I will heretofore write in this blog faithfully each week from now until the end of time, I know that won't likely be the case, so I won't even put that pressure on myself. What I do know, is that when I have the time, I will take it and share my thoughts openly and honestly while continuing to strive for "pretty good."
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