Here I am…Two Years LaterLater

Whoa! Been a couple of years. Okay. Three years. You can see I’ve done a lot with this blog. Ha. Such high hopes! But I’ve been busy. Wrote a book. Yes, I did! Finally finished it and put it on Amazon. It’s an e-book and I’m selling it pretty cheap, but I just want to get my story out there. The price has nothing to do with the quality of my novel, which is in the historical fiction genre. It is romantic, dramatic, a bit suspenseful, and packed full of unexpected turns.

“The Secrets of Heavenly” is the name of my novel and it’s my latest baby. Yes, baby. she began in my mind as I tossed her around in the form of an idea, a sketch. Then slowly, word by word, chapter by chapter, she took form. Grew a heart and a soul of her own. And now she’s taken on her wings and she’s flown away. She’s no longer mine. I know I sound all mooshy and mushy about it, but…that’s just me. Mooshy and mushy.

What the BLOG am I Doing?

Entertaining the idea of a blog, I did a little research, registered and set up this one.  No, I set up several and then decided on this particular one.  It was a small emotional journey and victory at the same time.  The idea of writing on a consistent public basis is a bit overwhelming, even if my expected audience will consist of  family members reading under duress. 

So, what does one blog about?  The “experts” tell you to choose some sort of theme that would be of concern to others and stick with it.  From there you build your following or you simply entertain your family/friends who are willing to humor you a little.   Those who are actually interested in your subject matter might decide they cannot live without reading your sage advice nor survive without knowing about your fascinating experiences/adventures.  You keep each post fairly short, pepper it with colorful language to captivate, and most of all keep supplying the demand you create.  Makes good sense, all of it.

Hmmm…it seems that I am in the same quandary that “Julie” in the movie Julie and Julia so quickly found herself.  I’m not certain what I want to do here.  Julie’s original intention was to do something purposeful with her life while employed at a job that emotionally drained her.  Cooking was the one activity that she did for fun and relaxation.  Her passion for writing soon convinced her to pen a blog, back when blogs were a  new phenomenon.  By cooking her way through Julia Child’s French cookbook recipes and blogging about the experience, she was able to bridge her two obsessions.  Additionally in the movie, she had this black cloud over her head about not finishing things she started.  Poor girl.  Starting the blog and committing to the cooking project kept her focused and gave her a very specific goal and time frame in which to work.  So many days, so many recipes.  I won’t tell you how it ends, so if you haven’t seen the flick, rent it.  Now.  It’s good.

Now back to that quandary in which I find myself.  Something purposeful, tangible, passion igniting, bloggable.  What?  I am eclectic by nature.  Never collected any one thing because there are so many things I like.  Never obsessed over just one hobby because there are dozens I’ve tried and liked.  Not just one genre of music or books, I enjoy variety.  Without boring anyone with too many lists of things I like, I’ll just say that I too begin a lot of ventures and then move on to others when I lose interest.  Amazing though, I’m married to the same wonderful, tolerant man nearly 25 years!  (Relationships I don’t collect and change on a whim, fortunately!)

In a nutshell then, when I stuff all of my interests down into a funnel, what emerges from the narrow end is a person who is a constant work in progress.  That’s it!  I’m a work in progress and probably always will be.  What if I write about that?  Woman managing midlife with a sense of wonder, humor, and optimism?  That would be me.  Wondering how on earth I got to be 48 all of a sudden, laughing at myself, and feeling hopeful that in the end it all matters.  So here I am.