Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Say Something

I decided to give up Facebook for Lent again this year, partly because I'm a Facebook ADDICT, but this year, more specifically, so I would be forced to devote more time to blogging. So expect more posts over the next 40 days! Since I won't be sharing the links to my new posts on Facebook, I suggest you subscribe to this blog (and this one, if you so desire) so you know when a new post goes up. (You subscribe by scrolling to the very bottom of the homepage and clicking "Subscribe to: Posts".)

See what I did there? Nice plug, right?

My goal is to post at LEAST once every 2 weeks, preferably more like once a week.

I opted to give up Facebook, not because I spend so much time on there that I have none left over for blogging (That would actually be really sad), but because I've been reflecting and praying a lot about what my God-given talents are and how God wants me to use them. Writing is (or at least it was) probably the most notable of my gifts (it may actually be the only one of my gifts, but I refuse to give up the search for my less-notable talents just yet). Since college, however (OK, let's be honest -- since high school, since college gen-ed writing requirements are pretty much a joke), my skills in this area have been tragically underused. I was able to get through college exerting minimal literary effort and still received rave reviews on my writing abilities, if not always on the subject matter itself. I even re-used some of my high school essays.

Since college, I haven't had any jobs that called for much writing (and who does, right? Except maybe journalists).

I took up blogging as a way to get back into writing since I found that I missed it (It's one of those activities that gets me "in the zone", that's how I know I love it). I was uncomfortably startled to realize how much anxiety it caused me. In grade school and high school I journaled almost daily without giving it a thought. In high school and the beginning of college I had a blog that I maintained for a while, and I never stressed about what I was writing or how I was writing it. I now realize that this was because I was still used to writing. Now I am miserably out of practice and find myself staring at what I've just written and thinking, "Does that sound like me? Is that too generic? There has to be a more creative way of saying that. But then it isn't ME if I'm trying to hard, right? Or no??" and on and on until I've worked myself up into an actual FEAR of something I used to love so much.

To get back to Facebook… it is so easy to use Facebook as a substitute-blog. That would be fine if it didn't come at the expense of honing a talent that God gave me, one that he wouldn't have given me if he didn't want me to use it. I've fallen into the habit of tossing out status updates instead of sitting down and taking the time to really say something.

But practice makes progress, so over the next 40 days, I am purposing to get writing back in my life, dammit! And if that means banging out a hundred crappy posts before I'm finally warmed up enough to write something solid, that's OK. It's part of my journey. And it will be a good lesson in patience, discipline, and humility -- all things that God knows I need a lot more of.

I'm hoping that along the way, I'm able to figure out exactly what I want this whole thing to look like. Right now I have two blogs - this one, where I post more general, family-oriented updates, and one for my thoughts on religion, politics, etc. A post like this one almost seems to fall into a third category though, because it isn't exactly a family update, but it isn't a social commentary either. Does that mean I need a third blog that's like, my journal? That would be a bit much. Can I combine one or more of these concepts into a single blog? Hopefully, the more I write, the clearer the answer will become. Hopefully I will realize I'm more passionate about one than the others. Or maybe Facebook will just become the place for family updates and the blogs will encompass everything else. We shall see.

Speaking of family updates though, I feel like you all deserve one since it's been quite a while.

First (drumroll, please)… A BELLY PHOTO!! Approaching 25 weeks, baby…


Also, it turns out my due date is JUNE 22nd, NOT June 24th as I was first told. The sooner the better!

I'm feeling really good. The baby is moving a lot and everything looks great. I'm just praying that this little one doesn't have Sophie's crazy energy level. Mama needs a breeeeeak!

Tomorrow I will be 29 years old. I'm trying not to be totally vain and dwell on the fact that this will be my last year as a twenty-something. It's not like turning 30 is going to magically turn me into a completely different person overnight. But there is still this sense of finality and the end of an era. Although of course that means the beginning of a new era (Actually, it's already begun) -- one that, despite my quarter-life crisis, I am very much looking forward to!

That about wraps it. I'm off to execute a MUCH overdue hair coloring. Tune in next week to see the results!

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