2012 Growing Pains & Pearls of Wisdom

FOLK Magazine Blog

Over at the FOLK Magazine blog, Hillary posted a couple of things that I thought were very interesting to me in my quest to improve my blog, and hopefully my life. 

First she introduces a Journaling prompt, so to speak. It's called a Journal Agenda for 2013. It starts us off like this:

It's kind of like cliff notes for blog writing! I know it's a challenge for me to sometimes come up with an interesting topic to write about when I don't have a project completed on a regular basis. I want to improve on that in 2013. I think this Journal Agenda will help with that, even if I don't follow it every week, or even in order for that matter. At least it's something to kick start me into having a topic to write about. I'm just glad someone else did the homework for me! 

**p.s. ~ I can't wait until the week of January 13th-19th. I bet that one will be fun to write and even more fun to read everyone else's triumphs.

Hillary fulfills the first assignment in the Journal Agenda by writing a letter to herself about her life in 2012 here, kind of like the song by Brad Paisley called Letter to Me. I think that is such a cool concept, btw.  Other bloggers have joined in and linked up their posts with their letters to themselves, as well. 

So, here is my attempt:

Giiiirl, Lemme Tell Ya...

So here we are, looking into the darkness that is yet to be 2013, while looking back at the shadows of what was 2012. What did the previous year hold for you? The first thought would be, "Ehhh, not much of anything", but you couldn't be more wrong!

You attended more funerals for people that were much too young to leave this world. Four people, between the ages of 14-46. These caused you to fear your own mortality and what that would bring to your own family if you were to pass soon. And worse, it made you think & worry about being the one who had to bury a child. It brought soooo many things into a much bigger perspective with your own husband, children, and with your own parents. The tragedies of Newtown, CT hit it home really hard too. Your own daughter goes to a school for K-4th graders and this could have been any other grade school in America. You get choked up as you're write this now...

Your relationship with your son grew much stronger this year as he stepped away from the influences that were against you, and he finally realized who you really were and that you weren't that person you were made out to be. You thanked God for getting you, and your son, through that long rough road. And it was a long one.

You stepped out of your comfort zone last year. Actually took a huge leap by your own safe standards. You started working on bigger projects, like furniture. Painting furniture to be exact, with techniques even. You learned you like it (for the most part) and learned that others really liked what you did! Are you kidding? It lead to a huge ego boost for you. You've never been one for standing out in a crowd, but this past year was like having a light beam shine down on you. You're not used to that and it's hard for you to get used to. You're not at any kind of celebrity status outside of your own hometown, but for 2012, that was plenty big enough for you.

Because of your success in DIY projects, it has gotten you to think about starting your own business. Actually, your own husband thinks you should. Having his support, even before your own, really touched you. You learn more every year that he is your rock and your love grows stronger, deeper and better every year. You have fears that the bottom will drop out, but again you've stayed grateful for having him in your life another year. 

You've learned that with the success of your crafting pre-business, comes with it a lot of self reflection, like how you've progressed into the early stages of hoarding. For real. There, you said it. You've never been a great housekeeper prior to 2012, but this was the year that you're actually ashamed of how horrible your house looks (as you sit there typing on your laptop & reading others blogs instead) You let your yard sale, curb shopping, thrift shop & flea market finds get out of control. And yet, you've managed to create more projects in this past year than ever before. So you have to be doing better in motivation, right? Yes. Just not in organization.

You decided to take your blog to a different level also, even though you've been blogging since 2006 has it really been that long? You finally decided to try to make it earn money. You also learned that you're not doing so well at that. At the rate you're going, it will take almost 5 years to get your first check from AdSense. You felt like you were doing a lot of work for very little return. You've posted so much more content this past year & you knew your blog was growing, but discouraged at the slow rate it was taking. You feel jealous of some of the big name blogs out there. You know you've never been a part of the In Crowd and 2012 proved to be no different. You know the photography still needs work, yet a new camera is not an option for a long while. You're not a patient person and even though you can teach yourself a lot of things, photography must clearly not be one of them.

You've felt closer to God in this past year than ever before and felt as though He's been trying to guide you. You're just unsure what His path is. Wondering if you're following the right one, or if you've just been mistaken all along.

You've sat down and reflected on your short-comings at the end of the year and prayed for guidance into the next year for better control of things and more balance. That's all you can do.

Best of Luck and Health in 2013 Girl!
 XOXO