Have I fallen victim to the hamster wheel of blogging? The first rule of blogging I learned was to never apologize about why you weren’t blogging. The second rule was to try to post as much as possible. I broke both of those rules.
This place started out for me, as a journal of sorts, we didn’t know what we were doing or building back then. I was working on my career (transitioning from teaching into libraries.) And then bloggers started popping out of nowhere promoting so much consumption. I was overwhelmed by the wave, and stayed clear on my course. But there was no love for vintage or sustainable fashion when other bloggers wanted you to BUY BUY BUY! There still isn’t really.
I wasn’t young, I wasn’t showing off, I wasn’t thin (then), and worst of all, I didn’t care about being the next Rumi or Bryan Boy. I wanted to be me. So last year, when I took the whole year to find me, this blog really suffered. I didn’t want to only photograph my outfits and just be ME ME ME all the time. I didn’t even want to show my face on Instagram. So I rarely photographed myself last year. I focused on traveling and capturing nature. Focusing on really letting myself learn and cultivate my desire to learn photography and editing.
What I appreciate the most about this blog is that it helped me learn about the sustainability and ugly side of unsustainable fashion. I called it learning about the humanitarian side of fashion. I couldn’t support an industry (both fashion and blogging) which made it seem like real people weren’t making and in some cases, dying to make clothes! I learned so much, and continue to learn so much. It really changed the way I shop. I spent 3 years only buying new clothes that were made in the USA. Only in the last year have I deviated a little bit from that. This challenged me to find and support brands that are creating with a conscience.
What I really miss though, is taking advantage of this space to write. Some of it was not having time. Some was not knowing what to write! How do I articulate any of these thoughts into words? Here I am acting as if I don’t own this space and can write (almost) whatever I want! I went through a similar crisis over on Instagram (which is probably now just as bad in the paid endorsement realm.)
So while 2017 was the year I removed myself from the photos, I was still here thinking. I was typing and photographing, just not publishing. Some days I think about how some people rebranded their blogs and websites…and maybe that’s something I should do? Maybe down the road. Right now, this space is mine to create what I want! Thank you for reading and following along for these years and through this long ass post!
