Here’s To a New Year

I’ve been away for a month, and I wasn’t sure I was coming back. That’s the truth of it.

As of today, I have been off of social media completely since the day after Christmas, and I honestly am making an intention not to return to it. Some realizations —

-Feelings of “not good enough” and comparison creeping in far too often

-Content that I didn’t wish to see and then could not unsee

-Seeing things that people would post that I found offensive or insensitive and then I would get mad, and it might make me feel angry or sad on a day that I was otherwise feeling happy before

-I am not a parent, but if I saw one more picture of a baby crying or screaming on Santa’s lap, I was going to lose my mind

-Too much time spent scrolling and looking at all the things; not enough time spent doing the creative work

It feels vulnerable to put this list out here for all to see.

And then with a self-imposed social media ban, what about the blog? Can I still write the blog and not promote it on social media? I honestly still am not sure. But as it stands this morning, I am going to try. Writing this blog brings me joy. That is my reason for writing and posting. I have some friends and family members who lovingly follow me and I am really appreciative of that. I am creative and therefore I must create. I aim to focus on the content I am creating and less on how many people see it.

We live in a world of Pinterest Perfection. It is really hard. People all over the internet are completing grand and expensive projects and I’m over here like Look! I put flowers in a teapot! Which is cute and fun… and a huge room reveal it is not. For me, the reason I wanted to start a blog was because I saw a couple of other bloggers who were sharing ideas that were simple and attainable. Things I could do with what I had in my own house or apartment already. Ways that I could love the space I was in by shopping my house. It was all so simple.

It’s so different now. But I don’t want to be. I have a little corner of the internet where I plan on sharing my usual simple, little things that I do when I putter around our humble home. I’m always discovering things about our house. Things I love. I love the home I have and I don’t need anything fancy or anything grand to feel that way. And I want to inspire anyone who comes by my little blog to not have to go out and spend a fortune just to “keep up” with me.

I’ve never been a New Year’s Resolution kind of person. I think a few years back I began the year saying I wanted to go to the gym more, which is a fine goal for a new beginning but like most people who make resolutions, it didn’t stick. This year I have a sentence, I have a word, and I have an intention.

My sentence is: “And now that you don’t have to be perfect, you can be good.” – John Steinbeck

My word is: Hospitality

And my intention is: Be Maria