Getting Back to my Roots

No, no . . . dear friends, I am not talking about letting the grays go el'natural on the hair coloring end of life. But thanks for thinking that! This is so much more than that.

This is about life. Me.

And Focus.

You haven't forgotten that little 'Word of the Year' thing yet, have you?

Focus.

So, I'm doing that.

A lot of it.

The first thing I wanted to really focus on, was my writing. Here. On this blog.

Last year was a pathetic attempt at writing. Again, with the mind going 100mph - there sure were opportunities of great thought coming in, but none of them stayed long enough to make it to the screen.

So this week I wanted to really take a look at what kept me away from the blog. Why did my writing decline so much in 2013? What pulled me from something that meant so much to me for so very very long.

It was simple . . . really.

I think some where along my Blogland adventure last year, I tried to be something that I just wasn't.

You understand, don't you?

At some point in 2013, I changed my header to look a little more professional. I lost Annalee (me). I wanted to appear to have it all together . . . and the truth was . . . somewhere along the line, I lost the real aspect of what I was doing. My posts became forced, and I lost my voice. What was most sad . . . was that when I pulled up my blog, it didn't call to me. At all. I felt . . . nothing.

So today I decided to go back to my roots.

I'm bringing Annalee back!! (I truly do LOVE ANNALEE!!)

This is Annalee . . . for those of you who don't know her . . .

 

She's kind of awesome. She is usually sitting at her desk, with a cup of coffee next to her. She used to wear a flower in her hair . . . now she wears it pinned on her sweater. She is an authentic woman trying to juggle home, career, friendships, family obligations and her own dreams, as she searches for balance, peace and happiness in the midst of all the chaos. She is positive, uplifting, and will "tell it like it is" to all her friends . . . who are inevitably searching for the same.

 

She is you. She is me.

 

And she's been with me, in one form or another, since about 2009. Like, and old blog button of mine from the very beginning . . .

 

Then there were the headers . . . so many, I can't even possibly count . . .

Loved the Christmas ones . . .

 

Wow . . . I could put this one up TODAY . . . we've got LOTS of snow here in Chicago!

 



Oh, remember this one? When we went to Disney? I LOVED this one! 

 

Truth is . . . I miss her. Annalee. The headers. The drawings. The fun.

I think I got a little too serious in my old age.

I wanted to change the world . . . change it big time . . . make a difference . . . make it better . . . but what I never realized, was that I was doing that before. I was making it better, in the best way I knew how. So, it really didn't matter if it was all picture perfect and impressive and had that wow factor. It was me. It was real.

So, I'm focusing on that. I want to get back to what I loved about my blog. Writing. Sharing not so perfect stories with not so perfect pictures and not so perfect drawings of Annalee with her not so perfect words of wisdom.

I'm still an artist . . . no worries there. I mean, it took me 41 years to call myself on artist - and I am not going to let go of that so easily. But my focus for today, and for this year, is to get back to what really matters. My blog matters. It always has. I just forgot how much.

But I'm getting back to it.

And it feels pretty awesome.

Happy Friday, friends.

Here's to getting back to what really matters.

xo