And So it Continues…

Twelve months ago, I was sitting at a desk just next to this one, also burning the midnight oil at work.  That night I decided I was just going to take a leap of faith, and start something that I had been thinking about for a long time.  This blog.  I titled that first post “And so it begins..”.  It seemed appropriate for me at the time, and while I look back and actually critique myself on the writing and content of the beginning, I love it.  It’s honest, and real, and just like most beginnings; it has a feeling to it.  There’s something about that first post, and I invite you to go back and read it, that just feels energetic to me.  I hope that as my writing style has evolved, and I have learned a thing or two about blogging, that I always keep that same excitement.

I knew since a very young age that I enjoyed writing.  I had grand dreams of writing books and poems that would one day reach the hands of all sorts of people and make them able to see things I saw, and understand them the way that I did.  But as it usually does, time and life took over.  I still wrote in a journal for stress relief, and sometimes for fun. I once wrote a pretty good song for my Daddy, and sometimes a snippet of poetry here and there, but nothing that really took shape.  I heard about something called Yelp, a website where you find and review restaurants and stores ect.  I made an account, and I started writing.  From that one step, I made a huge amount of friends in the community, and soon..things began to change.  I decided to go to college, I started writing for other websites, and I soon saw some of that creativity in myself again.  It was there all along, and just needed a little push.  So in the early morning hours of September 29th 2016, I just did it.

In the last 12 months I have greatly enjoyed giving y’all a peek into my life.  There have been times that I have been angry, sad, happy, and hungry! You have been with me for travels and work nights alike.  Shenanigans and hurricanes, boxing and car accidents, you have all been right there with me.  There is something to be said about the fact that I don’t know who some of the people that read this are.  I don’t have a name and face to put with a screen name, and sometimes not even that.  What I do love is sharing myself and my experiences with you.  Maybe you will read a post here and say-I can do that too.  Maybe I have touched on something that affected me, and you knew exactly how it felt. Whatever you are gaining from reading my Diaries, I thank you for continuing to, and look forward to all the years to come.

 

A year is really a good gauge of how much I am capable of changing.  In so many ways, I am not at all the person that started this blog.  I have grown and learned so much about myself in the last year. People have come and gone from my life, but it has been the ones that have remained that mean the most.  Its strange when I think about it, how people that are there for you when you are at your worst, and stick around to see your best..those are the real deal type of  people.  Very few people I know met me at the beginning of my story, they’ve all come in during different chapters.  Some people took that one chapter and used it to base a whole opinion on.  Others have stuck it out, and embraced all the smiles and cries.  Those people know who they are, some of them won’t even read this, but I thank them all the same.

I can’t go getting all misty eyed and sentimental now that I have looked over the last year, because its time to look forward to the next one.  I have to set some goals, and get down to the business of achieving them.  I aspire one day to be a paid writer. I want to be able to bring you more and more insights and adventures, I want to be able to do this as my primary source of livelihood.  But how to get there? This is something that I have been looking into and asking of myself for a while now, and I am ready to take the next steps.  If any of you reading this have any pointers, want me to guest write on your blog, have a fun idea or anything, please feel very free to give me a shout!

The first thing that will be happening is that you will not be seeing as much of my stellar photography from my cell phone here anymore.  I have a photographer friend that I will hopefully be collaborating with soon, to bring you some really great quality pictures.  Now this is not to say that I will not still be gracing you with some of my own pics. I do have a great eye, and lets face it my selfie skills have gotten to be pretty on point, but I will leave the more fine tuned stuff to him! I don’t really want to share too much more of the plans I have cooking, cause I feel like that would just ruin the fun; I will however be brainstorming with my Handy Fellow to maximize all of what this blog can be! What I will tell you, is to expect more of the same funny stories and fond memories.  Lots more food and drinks as I conquer all (ok some) of the places on my list of places to check out.  More moments shared with the people that matter most to me, and of course-my tiny sidekick Waylon!!

Happy First Anniversary Diaries of Suzy Doozer, its been a blast, and I can not wait to see where this road continues to lead me!!  As I put the final touches on this post, I will leave you with some thoughts I had while reflecting on this year.

If you find something that you love to do, and can touch another life with, you do it.  You don’t hesitate, you stop all the questioning and wondering and just jump.  There will not always be another day to have a voice, to dance in the kitchen, to eat and drink and love.  I only have one time to live a life that I can be proud of.

And that’s just a little something I’m working on.