A New Year...A New Blog

A new year may be just another day to some, but for me it feels different - this year it's especially so. Usually, I feel excited and inspired but this year it seems like there was no ramping up of positive energy. I've been out of sync the last few months and initially I wasn't sure why, I felt absolutely no inspiration to write but it wasn't that I didn't know what to write about (as in traditional writer's block), it was more that I didn't feel like what I had to say mattered. In a world of millions of bloggers, who really reads what I have to say and frankly, do they care?

There are many reasons to speculate why I may have been down in the dumps (as my mom would say), but I feel that I'm in a time of growth and maturation in my life and I am recognizing some realities that maybe a younger me couldn't see before. Most notably, I am finding that so much of what I see around me is not what it appears to be. People are not who they say they are and until I spend time with them to see who they are, I can't take their words at face value. It is incredibly foreign to me to move through my day in a space of speculation or distrust, but I also feel incredibly gullible when I jump in trusting all the way and then see the truth. Things are sold with all the promises of what the bells and whistles will do to make our lives easier, when in fact; our lives are easier with less stuff. It makes me think back to being a kid, the commercials on television would demonstrate all the cool things the toy-du jour will do and then when you get it home, it performed nothing like the commercial promised. Should I have paid better attention to this when I was eight?

Here's what I know for sure, my family is healthy and happy (well, relatively speaking!), I love being in school and I'm looking forward to developing my skills as an artist and photographer. My new year’s resolution is to get honest on all fronts, really honest. Dave and I are working together on our family finances with an emphasis on saving and I'm digging deep into why we (our society) believe things need to look like something other than what they are. I understand "image" and "perception" and how they play into getting people to do and be who we want (okay, manipulation), but wouldn't we all be better served if we just told the truth and worked together to lift each other up? Call me crazy, but it seems to me it doesn't make sense to sell an image that is far more than what it really is and have people putting their faith and hard earned dollars into something that is a lie, a foundation of quicksand. When can you really believe what you see?

This year I am writing about my journey to get honest on all fronts of my life. It may come back to bite me at some point, but I'm putting my money on that the truth will set me free. Intentional Winning is victory by design. Creating the journey and the outcome for every aspect of my life by participating in the process...honestly.