. . . in addition to the readers who know me and check in because we’re friends my readers are people looking for a sometimes bold, always honest and even risque take on . . . whatever. I give commentary; not product review or daily accounts of my life. my voice is pure me and if it can’t be that, I simply won’t write it.
optimistic, creative, passionate, intimate, pure, my truth, progressive, edgy . . . :) sometimes. these are some of the words that come to mind when I think of what it is that I want my blog to be and what purpose I feel that it should have. I’d love it if great or at least interesting conversations were had here because as much as I think of myself I’ve met many that I hold just as high.
so where is this coming from? if you’ve read then you know that I’m rethinking my site all together (along with a number of things in my life) and I follow a number of blogs that are about building a better site. well a site is its content. one of today’s article was on connecting with your audience and while it was geared towards blogs that sell things, at least the verbage was, the reality is that I’m trying to get you to spend some of your precious time on my site.
and the thought in the front of my mind is that I need to put in a lot more time doing just that. . . with my blog.
for a while I felt like I was doing well with the frequency of posts but then something happened and I don’t know that I can just call it a slump but I was finding that I just didn’t have as much that I wanted to share with the world.
sure, I’d love to post a cool tutorial on how I did something; but to be honest I haven’t finished too much lately that seems all that interesting. well. I did make a decision to try some new things, I do this from time to time, I try new things where there is already an existing thing that I like but feel that a little change might keep things fresh. getting stuck in a rut or pattern of doing things doesn’t bring me the comfort that it does many. well sometimes it does but even within those patterns I prefer a good deal of spontaneity. it’s just the way that I am and while there have been a few that I’ve offended by this way of being for the most part the people around me get it.
I’m going
to
practice being
in the momentand I guess that’s where some of the problems have been. I really don’t want to blog about whether I do or don’t make it to the gym. I don’t want to write product endorsements unless I’m really really blown away by something and truth be told do you even care what my favorite toothpaste is or what body lotion I use. and if you do, doesn’t that put you in a category of weird that I just really don’t want to know about?!?
so since I’m not wanting to share all my neurotic tendencies then what am I doing? I don’t know. I used to write a lot of poems but them I realized that I wrote the best stuff when my heart was torn wide open or when it was experiencing new highs. yeah, I actually said aloud that I don’t really want to write poetry anymore because I just don’t want to feel so hurt that something beautiful pours out of me.
I’ve been following “fuel your blogging” and there’s a lot of good advice on there. at least it sounds like good advice, whether it’s making your blog indispensable or stepping up the quality of posts. both of these make perfect sense, I’m sure I read something about having a purpose. and that’s my starting point. it’s time to redesign this blog, not just aesthetically but also to redefine it’s purpose. goals will be established and deadlines will be met. instead of a meandering sort of thing that comes and goes whenever I have something dieing to get off of my chest there will be purpose and thought, intent. . . and hopefully in time an established site will emerge with readers and everything.
it’s not just the blog, it’s everything and I can’t say that it has nothing to do with this time of year. something about coming out of longer nights makes me want to push harder to see light. I set goals and truth be told have the determination and energy to see them through. I did great things last year and have plans for this year too. so stick with me. I’m sure this will still be a lifestyle blog but when I’m writing I will be in that moment writing and that’s all that time will be for.
I’ve noticed that a number of bloggers have giveaways and while I’d love to spoil my fabulous readers with a goodie or two I don’t think that will be happening until maybe I publish my book and in that case I’ll offer up a signed copy :)
the recent giveaway that I’ve seen is entitled “My Favorite Things Giveaway” and when I thought about some of the little jewles that I often tell people about or that I would like to share with people I came up with:
1. Burts Bees Lemon Butter Cuticle Creme: not only does this stuff smell amazing it will soften your cuticles and strengthen your nails but I think that the lemon in here helps to whiten your nails too.
2. a “Quoteable Quotes” card: I love these things. just the other day I bought three of them (and one envelope) and the guy at the register pointed that out to me, I told him that they are all for me and really I’m just getting the envelope just in case I need one at a later time. my current favorite quote, though I do own a few of these, “What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?”
3. a gift card to Argo Tea: I do think that even for non-tea drinkers there is something in this place that will appeal to you unless of course you are simply not willing to try something different. just today I tried their “Valintea” which is hibiscus and passion fruit and was very pleasantly surprised. my favorite though is an “Earl Gray Vanilla Creme” but I have been known to switch it up from time to time.
4. Dove Dark Chocolate bar: I cannot emphasize this enough, I LUUUVVV dark chocolate, the way it excites my taste buds and then melts away into a beautiful finish that leaves me satisfied even though often time my insatiable self has more . . . this is a great chocolate for cheap! Hershey’s Special Dark is just too sweet but the Dove bar isn’t bitter, it’s just perfect for a deep chocolate craving.
5. tickets to the Siskal Film Center: I haven’t gone yet but I will. you can catch an indie or foreign flick, have a glass of wine before or after the film and enjoy a cultural adventure in downtown Chicago that many have probably never even thought of.
6. my sixth and you were only asked to have five would be Sandstone by L.U.S.H. Cosmetics: I wrote a piece on this, mainly because the caricature of the guy on the sticker who made my soap was funny looking but really this soap is AMAZING, so long as you don’t mind a little sand in the tub.
so I’m not giving anything other than a heart felt endorsement but there’s my list of favorite things that if nothing else always put a smile on my face. simple little indulgences (like a brand new lip gloss) that I’m happy to have found since none of them are really main stream.
so tell me, what are some of your favorite things?
