Motivation

A Few Thoughts Plus A Few Photos Doth A Blog Post Make

/ Ally Bean / 16 Comments

I REMEMBER YEARS AGO when I started blogging someone said to me that he didn’t like blogs because all people did was take photos of things in their homes and talk about them.  He found this boring and pointless and stupid.  Even though I thought that he was wrong, I shrugged it off without a comment.

His point of view seemed uninformed and mean-spirited to me.

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THEN A FEW YEARS AGO when I was in a blogging slump someone suggested to me that I take some photos of the stuff in my house and share them.   Again, I was back in a conversation about photos in a blog, although this time the conversation was helpful, not hurtful.

This woman suggested that when you’re at home you are who you are.  Unvarnished.  Authentic.  Free to do what you want to do with the space that you have.  So why not start there in your home, and write about it or whatever it brings to mind?

Her point of view seemed practical and kind-hearted to me.

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SO IT IS AT THIS POINT that I find myself today.  I have the photos.  I have knowledge necessary to post them.  I have nothing profound to say about each photo, nor do I have a cohesive theme to this post that makes them noteworthy.

But I believe that when you commit to being a personal blogger sometimes showing up and posting something is what needs to be done.  This means that if sharing three photos from the last few weeks is what keeps this blog keeping on– then so be it.

And that, my friends, is all I have for you today.

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Nine Years Ago This Week I Started My First Blog

/ Ally Bean / 21 Comments

YES, it is true.

I’m probably more amazed by this fact than you are.  Who’d have thought that I’d stick with blogging, more or less consistently, in one way or another, for this long?

My immediate answer to that question is: not me.  But that’s a bit too flippant.  In reality, I think that the reason I have continued to blog is that it’s a quiet way to make your mark on the world.  To question and learn.  To reflect and inspire.  To laugh and enjoy.  To connect with people in a casual, easy way.

At least, those would be the reasons why I keep a blog at this point.  Any dreams I might have had of making money or of getting noticed by a publisher are long gone.  Now I write about what happens in my life because I can– and because I want to.  Very simple.

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In honor of this auspicious occasion I’ll do something that I rarely do.  Today I’ll point you in the direction of a few of my previous posts about blogging.  I’ve learned a few things.  I’ve experienced a few things.  And naturally, I’ve talked about them all.

To Comment Or Not To Comment

Blogging: Then And Now [Subtitled: In Which I Explain How I Came To Be A Blogger] [Sub-Subtitled: Blame It On The Dirt]

My 5 Suggestions For Writing Better Blog Posts

An Explanation Regarding The “Absurdities Of My Week” Post That Is No Longer Here– Absurdly

An Inconvenient Blogging Truth

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So what does the future hold for me and blogging?  If I am entirely honest I have to answer: I haven’t a clue.

Throughout the course of my illustrious blogging career I have never felt the need to have an overarching plan with a mission statement, monthly objectives and weekly goals.  Instead I have always done whatever makes sense to me in the moment.

And right now it makes sense to me is to say thank you to all my gentle readers.  I appreciate that you make the effort to visit here on a regular basis.  Your comments make my day and keep me on my toes.  You’re the best.

THANKS for stopping by.

Springing Forward, Feeling New

/ Ally Bean / 19 Comments

Birds are chirping outside our front door this morning.  They nest in the river birch trees that create a barrier between our front yard and the neighbor’s front yard.

Then, because the little birdies feel so safe, they like to flit and hop around on our bushes, concrete bench, front stoop.  Sometimes they even look in the window at me.

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They are cute, but not all that melodic.  No surprise.  They are little birdies whose primary purpose in life is to build nests and procreate.  And to not get eaten by the neighborhood cats.  I’m sure that figures into their nest-building.

I find their presence outside my front door to be the most immediate and clearcut sign that Spring is here.  Last week, Winter.  This week, Spring.  The change of seasons happens quickly and easily in this part of the world with Daylight Savings Time underscoring what is already going on naturally.

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I find March, and the shift into Spring, as inspiring and focusing as New Year’s Day.  For me, this is the time of year to start new things.  To say: “Today I will begin  ______.”  And then go out and do it.  Rather like NY resolutions, without the formality and fuss, but with the follow-thru.

So with that in mind I plan to start anew today.  To follow the lead of the little birdies who are happy as can be doing their own thing.  To embrace change.  And growth.  And adventure.  And fun.

Definitely fun.  Care to join me?

2 Movies, 2 Books & 1 New Mantra

/ Ally Bean / 19 Comments

As part of my attempt to live a more balanced life in 2013, I have given myself the assignment to watch 2 movies and to read 2 books each month.  This is more difficult for me to do than you might imagine, but I’m giving it my best shot.  Here is my January report.

2 Movies

Hachi, A Dog’s Tale – Delightful.  The story of a college professor, the stray dog he found on a train platform and loyalty that goes on forever.  Highly recommended if you like Richard Gere, fables and house porn.  {have tissues nearby}

The Queen of Versailles – Compelling & whacked.  This is a documentary about a ditzy woman and her billionaire husband who set out to build the largest residence in USA.  Can you say conspicuous consumption?  Can you say bad judgement?  Can you say slobs?  Highly recommended because, well– Whiskey Tango Foxtrot— you’ve never seen anything like this.

2 Books

13, rue Thérèse – Fascinating.  On the surface, this is a novel about a college professor who finds a box filled with letter, photos and personal objects.  He decides to document each item and to research the timeframe from which the objects came.  What makes this novel so unique is that the author, Elena Maui Shapiro, who lived in an apartment building in Paris when she was a girl, inherited the objects when an older woman in the building died.  Using these objects as a starting point, the author wrote this novel.  Recommended if you like history and the idea that nothing is quite as it seems.

The Buddha Walks Into A Bar – Informative.  It’s been a long time since I read a book about religion.  This one, written by Lodro Rinzler, is quietly funny, well-researched and difficult to put down.  I hesitate to call it personal development, but I suppose that’s the genre it fits in.  I read it more as a refresher course on Buddhism than a how-to guide.  Recommended if you’re feeling the need to think about life from a different point of view and be mindful.

1 New Mantra

A friend’s second grade daughter came home from school with a long, involved story about playground intrigue.  My friend, who was making dinner as she listened to the story, said that she wasn’t absorbing the details.  Instead, she was listening to the tone-of-voice.  Eventually her daughter stopped talking and my friend realized that she needed to say something Mom-like.  So she asked her daughter what she thought about all that had happened and her daughter, with a sigh, summed it up with: “People are silly.”

No truer words, my little one.  And a perfect mantra about relationships, if you ask me.