Once upon a time a girl happened upon blogging and her life was changed for always. She found herself creating a scrapbook full of all that she loved and she felt her heart do a happy little skip when she realised that there were others out there just like her. And so she wrote for them. And for her son who was at the time just one year old. And sometimes she wrote to the man who left or the one who couldn’t stay no matter how much he wanted to. Or she needed him to.
But mostly she wrote for herself. She wrote and she collected pretty pictures and even prettier thoughts. She let what was unhappy tinge her days in sepia and looked at her life through a rose-tinted lens regardless. What she was creating was a scrapbook of all of her days. Her hearts desires. Sorrow, gratitude and joy. And sometimes she lost whole afternoons just to scrolling through all of her own yesterdays, shocked to know that were versions of herself she had left behind without even realising she was casting them off. Surprised by the evidence of her own growth.
At first blogging was a difficult business, requiring much fathoming of bewildering computer language and dalliances with cameras that wouldn’t do what she wanted. Then for a while the words and pictures seemed to flow right out of her hands on to the keyboard, so fast she couldn’t keep up, blogging two or three times a day and feeling inspired at every turn. But suddenly, as blogging became more prevalent elsewhere on-line, this girl grew shy. Too aware of herself. Questioning the value of every sentence and worrying that somehow those who read her could SEE her: that they would come to know her as a fraud, a pretender, a charlatan dressed in scarlet roses. That they would look at her and see straight through her to her vulnerable, cobwebbed heart.
And then someone big and tall and as vulnerable as she was came and blew away the dust from her house. And he made her happy. And deeply sad. And so proud of herself and her home and her son she could barely breathe sometimes. Look what you did, he would say smiling. And she started to see it. Despite it all. Despite the sadness and the fear and the worry and everything else. Despite it all, she saw that somewhere along the way what was just a scrapbook had become a way of life: that all the values she eschewed on-line where a huge part of the way she lived, with kindness and
And so she started taking photographs of everything. From the new toaster to the violet pastilles always in her
There would always, always be blogging, but now there was also Instagram: little love letters to her own heart, captured daily so she could treasure them always.
And I cannot imagine a life without you! you are such an inspiration to so many,I love you dearly,keep on doing what you are doing dear Alison,you give so much,the rewards will surely break down your door when they arrive as they will one hundredfold! xxx
Oh Gena you do know how very precious you are to me don't you? Thank you.x
My recent post This Instagram Life
I just loved this post Alison 😉 I always love reading your words but these just spoke to me. You should be proud, of your blog, your business, your life and everyone in it x
this is me nodding my head vigorously (up and down, up and down) saying, yes…yes…yes. you're story sounds so much like mine that i almost got teary reading this.
some people don't get it. but on a night when it's quiet and you look through the last few years of your life and see how much you've grown and changed and all the sweet spots that came and went. ahhh, there is nothing like it.
i said just the other day on my Facebook page: sometimes when i get down on my life, i look through all my photographs and remember how much i love this little life i've created for myself. i am so glad i picked up a camera.
it's true.
looking forward to more of your beautiful goodness.
My recent post 100/365
This post makes me so happy! We all feel a little like that… life is up and down, happy and sad, clean and dirty, I am glad you share yours with us…
Alison, I want you to know that I look for your post every day. I love how you seem to put my thoughts and emotions into legible form. In me they seem to just run amok and bump into each other until I am exhausted and bewildered. You have your finger on the pulse of women and the talent and clearness of heart to give us all the colors we don't know how to use. See, I'm rambling, but I know what I mean at least! Thank you for taking the steps into the void to give voice to your thoughts and ours. I appreciate even your "darker" days. Love,Amanda