Tis' better to live your own life imperfectly than to imitate someone else's perfectly.” ― Elizabeth Gilbert, Eat, Pray, Love I think my blog is growing up… thinking, learning, and dreaming, sending out a few new tendrils. Having a bit more time and a new place to live makes for good changes in your life. I find myself stretching my skills, thinking a bit deeper, trying a little harder to write from the heart, and still remain true to myself, not to lose sight of who I am. Learning who I am through my blog is a interesting way to find yourself. Have you tried it? Finding myself as a blogger, learning how I want to present my writing and photography to the world. Living my own life, gaining inspiration from others, but certainly not copying them. I started as garden blogger, nice and colorful as the gloves were, they were a little tight, I found I had more to say and share then there were flowers in my garden.
I am still me, it’s just that I want to have a few more pairs of gardening gloves to try on. The other day I picked up a copy of Artful Blogger, this magazine inspires me, I love to dive into it’s pages, roll through them, a dip here, a patch there, try this on for size, discard it because it’s not a good fit, grab something else and give it a try. Love a photo, learn a line, get creative.
This is one of my most favourite quotes from a featured blogger, Feather and Anchor, “It’s such a fine line to walk as you write for yourself, and for your readers. If you stray to far into either territory, you become tired, overexposed, burnout, or uninspired.” Erin Ellenberger-March. So true.
That’s what I was talking about in blogging boundaries, wondering aloud how much to share, and how much to leave out. I loved the comments, many of them made me think about how much I share, sometimes not enough, other times too much. How to find that balance? I am inspired by other photographers, and bloggers but still determinedly searching for my true voice, my reality, my style, even as it evolves. Learning my own boundaries, even as I see others widening theirs, or drawing the lines tighter.
Finding my real voice, one that I can bear to listen to without cringing while it reads back a post from years before. For me consistency is a fickle friend, I can sometimes grasp tightly that gossamer thread of a thought, a idea, only to have it snatched and broken the next. Wanting to be able to write like other bloggers, but knowing that I can’t copy their style, and must be myself. I will change as the garden grows that’s life. There’s plenty of room on the potting bench for another pair of gloves. Trying on new gloves…