Reflecting on the dance...

{click to embiggen if you'd like a closer look}

Right, so I've been spending a bit of time thinking about this blogging gig and what it means to me - what I love about it, what inspires it, how I can continue to use it to encourage my creativity and record my musings, and what I might do differently now that I've been doing it for a little while.

To begin with, encouraged and inspired by this lovely lady, I stepped away from the keyboard and put together a very quick real paper and paste mood board that I hoped would capture both the essence of the content as well as the look and feel of this little space of mine. I limited myself to an hour to do it, otherwise I knew I might get bogged down in trying to make it "just so", which was not the idea.

And what you see above is what came out. It was such fun to do (I should get sticky more often, something I used to do a lot but haven't for a long time now) and I'm actually quite satisfied and pleased (she says in a surprised voice) that it achieved the objective. I put the photograph of it into a big white bordered frame because that's one of the things I enjoy about how this space feels to me: that, within safe parameters, there's room to stretch and breathe.

The key thing I've discovered is that for the most part I'm quite happy with the way things are and do not feel compelled to make huge changes. I love that this is my very personal space with no aspirations of becoming anything else, that I still feel no pressure here to behave any differently or alter my voice, or to show up more often, and that the people who visit me are sparks of light and warmth in my day. I'm delighted and still somewhat surprised by the connections that have been made here and how some of these have developed into true and cherished friendships, whether we've met in person or not. The kindness and generosity and inspiration I find in these relationships is something I am thankful for and enriched by more than I can ever really express. I enjoy that it also gives me a place to celebrate the places and people that I do encounter and know in the real world, or a space to rant and release the things that make me frustrated or hurt. I'm also encouraged by how blogging makes me look at my offline life in a different way and has helped me use my camera to capture some of that everyday beauty. I love that it remains nothing but a pleasure for me.

Not that I'm suggesting there aren't ways to do things differently or better and as always, I am keen to hear your thoughts...

And what do you think of the bigger picture format? Too much?

Now that's done, I'm off to catch up with all the lovely spaces and people I've missed this week. See you in the ether...
♥