Failure To Launch…And The Silver Lining

Failure To Launch

Have you seen the movie Failure To Launch starring Matthew McConaughy and Sara Jessica Parker?  It’s about a man who doesn’t leave home to start on his own life.  His parents enlist the help of Sara Jessica Parker to help him move out and on to his own life.  He fails to launch, if you will. After all, he is comfortable at home.  I find myself in much the same predicament.  No, I don’t live with my parents.  Yes, I have a husband, kids, house, and a career.  That should be enough right?  Isn’t that the dream?  A recurring pattern in my life is that I “play it safe”.  That is precisely what I did with this blog.  I only shared a sliver of who I am.  In the process, I actually lost myself.  I ended up trying to “be someone else” and a person can only do that for a short while.  So, I am relaunching!  I, like Mr. McConaughy, am deciding to take a giant leap out of my comfort zone and share my journey with you.  Get ready, it’s going to be an interesting ride.  Mark your calendar.  The relaunch will go live May 20th!

Click thru to read The Whole Story of how this all came about.

The Catastrophe

My jaw fell open and I stared at the screen eyes fixed.  The words, “What happened?” slowly tumbled out of my mouth like petals falling off a flower.  The words were a whisper really, only audible to me.  I had wiped out my blog with one push of a button.  Apparently, deleting some code is a bad thing.  The screen was completely white and I no longer could access anything.  In my naivety, I quickly tried  to “undo” to no avail and my pulse began to elevate.  My shock gave way to frustration and anger at this “stupid wordpress!”  My husband, sweet man that he is, was reading a story to our youngest and called out, “Why don’t you just reboot your computer?  That usually solves everything.”  Ha!  Wouldn’t it be great if re-booting would always fix things?  I thanked him for his advice, after all, this wasn’t his fault.  Nothing I tried would fix this problem, and my frustration quickly welled up into emotion as tears starting streaming down my face.   I sat mourning the loss of nearly a years worth of sub-standard work.  After a good cry I started to clean up the kitchen.  Because in this house, people seem to make dirty dishes even in the midst of life-changing events.  My husband walked in the kitchen and in an act of total self-pity I declared, “Maybe I should just give it up.  I was never going to be like the bloggers I like so much anyway.”  Sometimes my husband has moments of true genius.  He replied back, “Why would you, of all people, want to be like someone else anyway?”   I was speechless, which is unlike me.  The words hovered over me as I finished cleaning the kitchen and started to burrow into my brain.  As I washed dishes questions started to flood my mind.  Did I forget who I am?  When did I become a quitter?  Do I have something to contribute?  What if no one is interested?  Would that be okay with me?    Sometimes it takes a catastrophe to push past the banal and into conscious thought.  My efforts to plug-in to the blog world really just unplugged me.  The real me.

The Silver Lining

With each new dawn we are promised another chance.  A chance to re-boot.  Another chance to exercise our free will making choices to either enhance or diminish the joy in our lives.  The next morning was my new beginning.  I am, by nature, a very reflective person.  But when life becomes so fast and chaotic, moments for reflection can slip away if not guarded.  For that morning, I stopped and spent time with myself…thinking.  “If I could re-boot this whole blog thing what would I do? What is my contribution?  What matters to me?”  As I reflected, I discovered I was so busy trying to create projects to get me noticed, I failed to notice I was losing me.  I am a wife, mother, teacher, designer, thinker, student, non-fiction reader, empathetic soul, and sometimes a comedian.  What was I thinking just keeping myself in one small box?  One of my favorite blogs (and their book) to read is The Minimalists.  In fact, I saw them last year on their world tour just two days after gall bladder surgery.  Yup, I wanted to hear what they had to say that bad.  They are living examples of being your authentic self.  Now, I am not saying I am going to become a total minimalist and live with 200 things.  There are three other people who live in this house that would have a huge problem with that.  But, I do really truly believe in their adage of not letting things get in the way of being who you have always wanted and are meant to be.  Live an authentic life.

So, Slightly Coastal is moving in line with me, the real me.  I will still feature home projects because that is a deep passion of mine.  In addition, I will share family life, fashion, ways to re-energize, ways to organize (with a sprinkle of minimalism), and anything I find inspiring.  I’m excited about a new series on inspiring women.  Each month I will feature a different woman who is living an authentic life.  I will share my love of books like Ishmael, Man’s Search For Meaning, The Energy Bus and The Stranger to name a few.  They remind me that living a purposeful authentic life is vital to my well being.  I want to find my path and stay on it.

I’m setting off on a journey.  A journey to lead an authentic life.  I am using this blog to document my journey.  Would you like to join me?  I think it will be an interesting ride.  After all, I want to live an interesting life.  I hope you do too.  To give you an idea where Slightly Coastal is heading I designed this little graphic.

Come on back May 20th to see the first major change and the first big realization.  For me, it was a milestone.  I will also be featuring a give-away many of you will like.  Mark it on your calendar.  See y’all back here soon.

Nancy