Let’s skip that part of this blog post where I tell you the last year and a half has been weird and hard. It’s been weird and hard for most of the world, and we aren’t excluded. When it comes to my professional life, I can feel things shifting. I spent more than a decade keeping this space here on my blog, my sacred ground for sharing pregnancy, job, and day to day life updates as well as many of my most personal thoughts. But social media has evolved. My kids have grown a lot, and dreams change. 

So random… I got sucked into the LulaRich documentary last week and couldn’t peel my eyes away from watching some of the inner workings of the company and experiences of some of the women. A phrase that really hit me was the idea of the “Boss Babe” or “Boss Mom.” I remember when that was a personal desire of mine. Craving the business suit, busy schedule and fancy car. Feeling important and valued.  

But let me tell you what, my desire to appear successful–at least by society’s standards– has all but diminished. I left the “9-5” world of news reporting and spent the next 6 years trying to prove to myself that I still had it. Now I’ve become ok with inventing my own definition of success, and knowing that it doesn’t need to look like anyone else’s.

I am not going to speak for every blogger or social media creator, but for me, it’s often felt like I’m on this ladder to nowhere. What’s the end goal? Where’s the final destination? There isn’t one, we are sorta paving the way here, but social media and the way we use it are also evolving. 

This last year on social media I’ve seen people climb up to die on so many different hills. Not literally, thank goodness. But figuratively with their passionate political stances. I get it. I was there too, last summer when I felt like I was yet again tight walking a delicate line between explaining and supporting BLM, while also standing firmly against phrases like “ACAB.” 

We all have different hills we are willing to die on. There are so many hills. And two people can stand in front of the same one, and look at each other. One person is like “let’s go!” and the other be like “Nope! This ain’t worth it!” I think respecting and appreciating each other and our choices for what to be passionate about is so important. 

Ok, enough about hypothetical hills and death. Here’s what I’m getting at…

During the middle of the pandemic, after our city’s police department was defunded, and the weird Texas ice storm, and power outages, but before we launched our first product, and started a new year of homeschooling, we made a big life change. 

The last several months have felt like a strange sort of tiptoeing. We’ve had to grieve a loss for the future we had planned. I wanted to respect that, and our privacy. I’ve surprisingly felt an identity shift as I question if I can still be the bridge builder I want to be, though I don’t have as much skin in the game. The last step in this process for myself has naturally felt like sharing it with my community. With you. 

But as I observed my corner of the internet I wasn’t sure where the right place for that was. Here on my blog, where it all started? Where over the years I’ve bore my soul and most inner thoughts, but where my recent posts are movie reviews and parenting tips? On my Instagram feed? Where I share more of my day to day and some who have recently joined me and may not know or understand this history? Where maybe 5% of my community will even see it if Instagram so wishes to display?

Or someplace new and fresh? A place for the OG fam, and those who want to stay connected. 

This blog will still be my journal and space for sharing and connecting with those of you who will give me the pleasure of your company. I’ve also (like, 10 years late) started a newsletter–Newsletter? Is that what I should call it? An emailed blog with periodic updates? Over the years my RSS feed has changed from full blog updates to your inbox, to weekly (or twice monthly) updates with highlights to your inbox. Now, well… This is sorta going back to the blogs in your inbox except some of them won’t also be posted here on my blog. At least not this one I’m working on, not yet. 

If you already have signed up for our newsletter and get our emails (thank you!), you’re good to go. They’re free and will remain free. If not and you’d like to join us you can here. 

I’ll be sending out an email with the subject line “life update” later this week. If you’d rather wait until I get around to sharing it here in the future, no worries! And if you’re still here, I’d love to know how you keep in touch with your favorite content creators these days. Obviously you’re reading my blog now, but do you pop in often? Do you love/hate emails? How can we stay in touch?

Thank you for being here. And for listening. 

With love,

Jennifer