Everybody's doing it so why can't I

So why start a blog? Why add to the to-do list and spend more time on the computer? Well I'd been toying with this idea since my buddy Elizabeth started her blog last year and I started helping with our Twilight Quilters blog in 2009. I've argued back and forth in my head: Who will even read it?; It would be cool to have a place to share all my projects with my many online friends; How often do I post? - will I actually keep up to date; I'm not fond of writing - this would be a good way to practice; What do I have to offer? There are so many wonderful crafty bloggers out there, what do I do to belong.

Well, This year I want to enact change in my life. I want to become a doer, not just a dreamer.   I want to be more crafty and finish more fabric and paper projects and home decore; I want to catch up on scrapbooking my life rather than let all those photos pile up unseen on the computer; I want to be more disciplined to achieve my goals of spending more time with the people who matter to me, of being healthier and having more energy.   It's too easy to fall in the same rut of dreaming and planning things but not following through. Too easy to take the easy way out, just going through the same routines of getting up, taking care of what needs to be taken care of that day, meals and errands, watching TV, going to bed.....I want to do MORE. 

So I started 2011 in full swing.  I started exercising and cooking healthier. I started Becky Higgins "Project Life" and have been trying to journal often to capture the everyday stories of my life.  I've started hanging out online at blogs of crafty women, admiring their discipline and creativity and using their stories and projects as inspiration and motivation.

I've come to the conclusion that I'm good at online relationships.  I met my husband that way.  I have many friends that I've never met in person.  Most of my family and "old" friends are  scattered around, with visits and calls scarce.    So a blog is a good solution to keeping in touch with everyone that matters to me, to show off the creations I'm proud of, share the latest happenings with friends and family, and to let everyone in on "the real me".  And I think having a place to be "held accountable" might be a good motivator.

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I started this post almost a month ago, then encountered a little bump on my road to blogging and doing all these life changes. I got sick. And sick again and again. Finally I'm feeling normal. So here goes my attempt again.

Fortunately the talented and articulate Elizabeth has once again inspired me to start this blogging thing after all with her "Favourite Things Friday: Blogging or Why I Owe My Blogging Career to Twilight"  post.  She wrote: 

In the movie, Shall We Dance, Beverly Clark {played by Susan Sarandon} says, speaking about marriage, we need a witness to our lives. There's a billion people on the planet. I mean, what does any one life really mean?   

This is the feeling I've been having the past couple of years as I have been trying to balance my life as mom and wife with all the activities that I enjoy and will all the different groups of people I've met and spend time with, both online and in person.    I've been feeling this need for a witness, to make a connection.  I guess as I'm growing older and contemplate my mortality I want to do something more with my life.  Blogging isn't exactly an earth shattering/changing move, but it's a start in my journey.

So here goes, I'm finally going to publish this post!