It's been two months now since I decided to start evolving the theme of Back in Skinny Jeans from weight management and body image subjects to more "big sisterly" advice about a myriad of life things because many of my readers see me as a wise sisterly type. I thought it would be a good place to start and I even introduced a new thing called Dear Steph where readers could ask me for some advice on any topic.
Since that change, I've been realizing some things that I didn't see back then which leads me to make some tweaks to BISJ's blog theme.
First, after doing further soul searching, the core thing that really motivates me to blog is healing,
to help others and yes myself. I dig blogatherapy. Three years ago, I decided to start blogging
after a conversation where my dad told me I had a choice to either let
all the bad things in my life keep me down and keep me feeling
victimized, or I could take all those experiences and share them to
help other people in their own healing journey.
How my dad's battle with colon cancer inspired me
My father spends a lot of time educating people about colon cancer. This summer, my dad has been cancer free with zero relapses for 15 years. Even back when he had cancer, dad would share what treatments he did, how he changed his eating and exercise, and he even shared things he did spiritually which for me showed me how committed dad was to healing holistically. I've had two different dads in my life, and this new one is the dad I always wanted. I'm so blessed, and most of what I do here is merely following much of what my dad does in his life.
How do you heal in an every day kind of way
But we live in a complicated world, and healing is not a linear 1-2-3 step kind of thing. I think of my own healing journies and if I had to draw it, it would look like a maze of twisted tumble weed. The biggest challenge was just trying to take each day one at a time, and keep focused on getting better.
The challenge part is how to reconstruct your life in every day ways because healing really is about reconstruction, reinventing, and reevaluating. You have to create new and healthier habits, and get rid of old unhealthy ones, and you have to make those changes holistically, mind, body, and spirit for wellness to stick long term. That is why it is important to remember the "heal" part in the word health, because the outward appearance of health does not always equal healthy. I want to explore that here at the blog.
New things we're gonna take to the dressing room
Instead of trying to be everyone's big sister, which by the way was also reviving parts of Perfect Girl in me which isn't healthy for me, I think I'm going to focus for awhile on sharing more healing type stories, how to live more authentically, and how to balance personal evolvement in a material world. I'm still trying to figure that one out. Can I go to yoga and yet still enjoy cocktails at happy hour? Can I strive for world peace yet be excited about the latest running shoes from New Balance? How do you desire to live Green but can't let go of your SUV? Can I do my life purpose work even if I hate my boss? There's much to ponder.
I'm going to replace Dear Steph with stories of "What Others are Doing to heal." Hearing my personal stories is cool, but hearing how others have overcome their own healing challenges is even better. In fact, the first story will be this Friday from my friend Maria who has over come in one year agoraphobia, frequent anxiety attacks, and dropped 50 lbs in the process. It's really inspiring.
With Dear Steph, I was getting many questions that really should be answered by a health professional, and as much as I want to help others, I respect a boundary, and a level of responsibility which I am not equipped for. You'll still see themes of Dear Steph laced in posts, it just won't be a regular column like before.
So that's it. Let's see how this next evolution goes. And as usual, please send me your thoughts and insights.