Tuesday, December 1, 2015

Reunited and it feels so good...

Well, well, well... look who I ran into. My old blog. Which I haven't touched in years. Case in point- I describe myself in my bio as "a typical twenty-something girl," and I haven't been in my twenties in quite some time. That twenty-something girl is now 34 and happily married! I'd forgotten about this blog, just like many other pieces of my past. But in my quest to rejuvenate my writing career, I figured I'd dust it off and get back up.

I remember when I stopped writing in my blog. It was right after my father died. The loss was insurmountable to me, and I blamed myself for a lot of things that I shouldn't have. I was not handling my grief well. I was drowning in it. It's like I just shut down completely and never have fully restored myself since. It took me a long, long time to come out of it, and truthfully, I came back as a different person.

Now, that's a crockpot of lies that time heals all wounds. No, what it does is cushion them ever so slightly. The pain becomes easier to live with. But I'm ready to get back into blogging, especially as I'm toying with the idea of going "rogue"- freelance! The corporate life is killing me, one paper clip at a time. I've been unhappy in my role and with my company for a long time, and I'm starting to realize just how short and precious life is to really waste it on a job that brings you constant stress and anxiety. I want to be my own boss and navigate my own career. Live my own life. And to do that, I need to write and write and write!

As mentioned before, I'm an old married woman now. I actually reconnected, and eventually married, an old flame.  It's only fitting we met and fell in love while we were both working in a bookstore. :) (Side note: RIP, Borders). It's an amazing feeling, getting to spend every day of your life with your best friend, biggest cheerleader, and partner-in-crime. Every day of my life, I count my husband as one of my biggest blessings! I don't know what I did to deserve such a sweet, loving husband. Though I DID kiss a lot of frogs on my way down the path to marital bliss. We are dorky bookworm homebodies and extremely proud of it. Staying In is the new Getting Out!

In February 2016, I will officially be starting Yoga Teacher Training! I'm so excited. I've tossed the idea around in my pretty little head here and there over the years, but figured it was a pipe dream. I'm not flexible! My balance is questionable on its VERY best day! I am the biggest stress monkey ever- I can't teach people to get all zen and backbendy! I'm not vegan! All these reasons and many others were reasons I shied away from it. I'd tell myself if everyone who loved yoga became a teacher, then the world would be full of yoga teachers, but no students to teach. But going back to that whole "life is too short" mantra... my 21-year-old niece died of an accidental drug overdose three months ago. She was young, brilliant, gorgeous, funny, and intelligent. I feel like she died before she got a chance to live. And I don't want that to be me one day. I held myself back and didn't go for my dreams, didn't take risks or try to believe in myself. So I said, screw it, we goin' to yoga school! I can't wait!!!

And now what kind of update to a book blog be without a few lines about what I'm reading? I'm still a total book fanatic with no intentions of slowing down. Since my blog hiatus, I've become a big fan of Goodreads, so let me know if anyone wants to be friends! Right now I'm reading Moonlight Mile, by Dennis Lehane (author of Mystic River). It's a sequel to his first book, Gone Baby Gone, which was adapted into a movie starring Casey Affleck and Michelle Monaghan. I enjoyed Gone Baby Gone  very much, though it's been a long time since I read it. So far I'm feeling ambivalent about the book. It seems to be dragging to me, with not too much excitement or, well, suspense.  But there's still quite a way to go in the book, so I'm keeping an open mind.

Now that I've resurrected my buried blog, I'm hoping to become a more frequent visitor. Just stay patient and bear with me.

Enjoy the rest of your day!