We have a blog!! (we have a BLOG??!)
Ok, y'all, it's getting real. I mean, not only do I now own a business (what??!) but I have two businesses and a blog. A BLOG (??!!) 2 things I can honestly say I never saw myself doing. Seriously, if you told me a couple of years ago I would be doing this now I would have told you you were crazy, or used one of my newly mastered Southern phrases, "Aww, bless your heart".. My first exposure to blogging, I have to admit, was in the movie, Julie & Julia where an average Joe (Joann?) like me aspired to become the next home cook sensation by cooking her way through Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Yes, while as a self-proclaimed "foodie" I salivated over the food, I was also enthralled with Julie's relatablity, her mastery of languange, and the way her fans followed her week to week to see what would happen next.
Did she make mistakes? Yes.
Were her recipes perfect? No.
Was she endearing and engaging, and captivating? Hell yes. (And, as any good Southern woman should, she rocked a set of pearls!)
And I think that's what pulled me in the most: the fact that this very real, flawed, relatable person was engaging so thoroughly and honestly with her audience.. an audience who was eating it all up and couldn't seem to get enough or wait for the next week's enstallment! I honetly can't say that that movie inspired me to do anything other than cook and eat more, ha ha, although now that I face the world of blogging I find that I am channeling Julie, simultaneously striving to be both clever and humble, engaging yet accessible, successful yet realistic...
So here I am. Starting a business and blogging about it. What? Who am I and what did the world do with the old Jen? The introvert who struggled so long to be comfortable in her own skin- the one who truly "found" herself well past 30, after all my life plans had seemingly fallen apart. I will be forever grateful for those who helped me glue these pieces back together and become the bigger (could have skipped that part!), better, stronger version of myself that I am today.
I suppose I've always been a writer, prefering to put pen to paper than airing my thoughts, worries, fears, and grievances out loud. Working as an ICU nurse and then an ER nurse practitioner has significantly thickened my skin and made me more comfortable with confrontation, more apt to talk to a stranger, more incloined to speak my mind... You have to have the heavy talks. You have to be real with people. You have to stand up for yourself and for your patients. It's unavoidable. Whether confronted with underperforming colleagues, difficult patients, or demanding visitors, you have to learn to speak up and express yourself clearly and professionally. I can do it. But this.. this writing.. this is my comfort zone.
Blogging is really just a more public form of journaling, and I am a firm believer that journaling is immensely therapeutic. So, my friends, you become the voyeurs into what will now become my public journal. I'll share with you my thoughts and fears and feelings as I endeavor upon this new journey, seeking to become my own boss while ultimately still giving back in the best ways I know how.. We will share health and wellness tips, hash out life, skin, health, wellness, and relationship concerns, throw in a joke or two, and ultimately hopefully create a safe space for talking about those things that matter most to us. Stay tuned, we have some exciting things in store!
xoxo,
Jen
