I turned 35 this week. Nope, I'm not afraid to admit it. I've put my whole heart and soul into my 35 years on this earth. I've made massive mistakes and fallen down both literally and figuratively more than a 35-year-old probably should in her lifetime. But I've also gotten up. Not gracefully or anything- heaven only knows! Still, I am alive and I am happy and I am healthy and best of all, I am surrounded by people I love who somehow manage to love me back. This year, this birthday, has seemed like a big one for me. I'm not sure it really is, but it has seemed like one. I've asked myself a LOT of questions.
What have I accomplished in my life?
What should I focus on accomplishing?
What have I given my children? My husband? The world?
What am I withholding?
Am I happy?
Am I helping others find happiness?
Am I taking care of myself?
Am I taking care of others?
Do I give enough?
Do I give too much?
What can I learn?
What can I teach?
What path am I on?
What path do I want to be on?
As I have considered Shabby Blogs, I've felt a lot of guilt. I've felt so bad because I haven't been able to keep up with everything and I let my passion for helping and giving to others through SB die a little. I felt like it was time to let it go and to let someone else, someone better, take over for me. What I didn't realize was that maybe there is a better option. Maybe there is a better way. Maybe the reason I let myself get burned out was because I was doing it wrong. Maybe I was just doing it wrong.
I'm going to share with you in another post exactly what I've learned about what I call Blogger Burn-out. For now, let me just say that I have been on a really cool and much-needed journey that has taken me full circle. As a result, I will be changing a lot of things at Shabby Blogs. I don't want to throw anyone off or to confuse anyone, but these changes are a necessary part of my journey- my own story. I'm going to share those changes with you because it is important to me to keep you in the know, but also because my hope is that these changes/insights may be helpful to others as well.
- Shabby Blogs has never been a business to me. That has kept it true to who I am, but also taken from me and my family in both a personal and financial way. As much as I hate "money stuff," I'm going to have to at least be a tiny bit businessy so that my family can benefit in some way from what I do here. SB will always be free. I'm just going to be more open to having sponsors. Thank you in advance for supporting me in this decision and for supporting Shabby Blogs by visiting and loving on the advertisers/sponsors we currently have and the new ones we will be welcoming in the future.
- I'm outing myself. As much as I have always promoted Shabby Blogs in "we" and "us" and "our" terms, the truth is that Shabby Blogs is...just me. It is one person. Mrs. Megan Hastings. (Hello there!) My sweet older brother coded the original SB site for me and I have hired several people to help me with it over the years. In the past, I brought in an awesome photographer, Jessica Downey, to write some posts for me and the magnificent Keren from Free Pretty Things has been an absolute angel. But Shabby Blogs, itself, is just me...myself. Sorry if that's a disappointment. Sigh.
- Being true to myself in all of my various roles, and as a human being in general, is something I am passionate about. (It sounds strange, but I feel really excited and liberated now that I've given myself permission to be an actual person over here. Ha!) I intend to follow my heart and my own interests and passions. I'm afraid that is going to totally spill out through this blog like water through a cracked dam...and I'm going to not only let that happen, but snatch a swim noodle and ride the wave! That's different for Shabby Blogs, but I'm hoping you'll like the cool things that wave washes up.
- While I am passionate about helping you beautify your blogs, I'm most passionate about my belief behind that. My belief is that every person deserves a place to tell their own unique story. I love helping people make their own special homes on the web a better reflection of who they are. That has made me so happy! But I want to do more than that. I want to take that further. Please hang in there with me as I unfold what that means. :)
- I'm willing to ask for help. That's super hard for me, friends. I'm kind of a control freak...plus, I hate asking for things. (Ha! It's true though!) In order to make Shabby Blogs all it can be, I need to let people help me. I'm so excited to be forming my own little team of Shabby Ninjas. I don't want to get too ahead of myself, but I can already promise you they are going to be some seriously talented people who I know you will love! Heck- it might even be YOU!