“It’s important to align yourself with people and situations that support your visions, dreams and values, and vice versa, and to prioritize where your energy is being expended and to whom.”
~Amanda Slavin, from a blog post titled “Curating Your Own Life”
Later in the blog, this also struck me:
“You are entitled to curate every aspect of your own life. If you don’t, who are you trusting to curate it for you?”
I’ve been seeing the word “curate” used a lot lately. From what I see online, people in more progressive places have been using it for quite a while. I think it can be overused, or exaggerate what is going on, but when I first started blogging (more than 10 years ago!), I saw my blog as a place where I recommended books, a source for a curated list of top-notch books — at least in my opinion.
Over time, my blog’s focus changed. I went from being a single woman who wanted to write for children and teens and focused every spare moment on reading & writing for those audiences, to a married, full-time mid-level manager in a busy communications unit at a land-grant university. I took up beekeeping, candle- & soap-making, and quilting. I stopped reading and writing much, if at all. I threw my energies into helping my husband navigate the waters of parenting teens into adulthood. Now I’m a grandma!
But I’m also taking stock. My word for 2017 is align. I’ve spent a lot of time listening to podcasts, sewing, and thinking. I’ve thought about stopping blogging altogether. I’ve thought about attempting to return to the book reviews I enjoyed so much over the years. I’ve pondered the role of poetry in my life, what it actually is and what I want it to be.
I also found some words that crystallized my mental processes, on Ann Voskamp’s blog. I put these items in the “reminders” app on my phone for easy access.
- What do you want your life to really be about?
- What is most meaningful?
- God doesn’t call you to a convenient life — He calls you to an important life.
- Be the reason someone believes in the goodness of people.
So over the course of the coming weeks and months, I’ll be figuring out how to align my blog with what I want my life to really be about, what is meaningful to me, and how to use it as a tool to help others believe in the goodness of people. Because I believe we each have the ability to shine light where we are.
In the words of Rumi: Be a lamp, or a ladder, or a lifeboat, or a ladder.
I want to be a lamp.
There is only one constant: change. I have missed your voice. I’ve missed connecting with you. I’m glad you explained your thinking. I hope you decide to keep blogging. For me, it is a way to process, to reflect, and to connect. Whether I am writing about teaching, my life, or poetry. I love the quotes you have chosen to share. I was just reading Rumi before I opened your post. Wisdom for free. Holy week is a good week to contemplate what you want to be in this world, a lamp, a lifeboat, or a ladder.
I’ve missed you too! Thank you!
Beautiful post!