Eighteen months.
That’s how long it’s been since I’ve last logged in to this space – my own space – on the internet.
So much has happened in the last year and a half, but in truth, my day-to-day looks about the same as it did the last time I posted here.
There were so many blog posts I wanted to write for you in that time: Digital city guides! International recipes! Staycation tips! Safe day-trips! Comfy yet stylish home outfits! All of these are empty posts sitting in my draft folder, dreamt up in a furious brainstorming session after clicking submit on my last published post.
But something stopped me. Actually, everything stopped me.
It felt frivolous to post about any of things listed above as the Coronavirus death count climbed, and as America yet again began reeling from the unjust loss of Black lives it became clear I needed to step away from my blog’s Instagram account and back into my own personal one. Although I can’t definitively say that the views of my audience align similarly with my own, I know for a fact that it’s not the case with members of my family. Sharing resources, sending messages, and having long, tough phone conversations consumed a lot of my energy (of course, I realize many of these conversations were only made harder by the fact that I neglected to hold them until now). Sending words that may never be read into the universe could not be a priority when loved ones are more angered by the destruction of reparable property than the loss of irreplaceable life. I wish I could say I changed minds and inspired action on the part of my relatives – but I can’t. These conversations are ongoing and evolving, but at least I’ve found that standing up for what is right gets easier the more you do it.
Apart from that, I largely burrowed myself into my home, focusing on life offline rather than on it – and it’s kept me away until now.
There have been life changes in my world – I started and left a job that wasn’t what it promised to be. I’ve lost and gained family members. I began serving my community in a meaningful way. I’ve started and completed a different temporary position that left me with wonderful friends here in a city that, thanks to the pandemic, still largely feels foreign. I’m now even a certified Cat Mom™! But ultimately I’ve lived in my head this past summer and am in dire need of turning outward again.
I’m still navigating what the future looks like in this space. For now I think it will be largely diary-style (remember when blogs used to be that way?) and I’ll be moving away from my Digital Wanderings posts (I’ve never loved that title anyway) in favor of plainly-titled “Last Week” posts. I’ll also share my Charlotte-area recommendations, and sprinkle some home & style content here and there. Think more homeward than wayward for the time-being, at least until we can travel again safely and with a clear conscience. I’m planning on returning to Instagram at some point in the next couple of weeks, too – I just first need to dip my toe back into my website before I can gain footing anywhere else.
Even though it feels a little strange to be back here, it feels so, so good.
So, friends, tell me – what have you been up to in the past year and a half? I can’t wait to reconnect.
