Saturday marked six years that I have been blogging in this space. It knocks the wind out of me to consider that when I started A Design So Vast, Grace was 3 and Whit was 1. I began this blog to record the small moments of my parenting life I worried I would forget. In retrospect (and only in retrospect) I realize that this was a concrete effort to engage in the right now of my life. It turns out to have been an effort that has changed my life enormously. I still struggle mightily with the effort to be here now, but I am much more present in my days than I was six years ago. I know that the practice of writing here is in large part responsible for that shift. On this screen, and in the many pages that writing here has inspired, my subject chose me. Immersing myself in that subject – my own ordinary life, replete with muck and also magic – has changed every single thing about me and how I live. I cannot express how grateful I am for that. And your generous thoughts, wise input, and probing questions are a huge part of that. So, thank you, all of you, for being an essential part of this huge change. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
For the last couple of years I have marked this anniversary by asking you for questions: is there anything you want to know, or to hear more about? Please, honestly, let me know … I love hearing what is on your mind.
Happy Anniversary! It is hard to imagine how much has changed in those six years…
Happy Anniversary and thank you so much for all you bring to all of us, here at this beautiful place.
I’d love for you to do a guest post for WomenHeal!
XOXO
C
I love hearing about what you’re reading. I’m also curious about how you manage time. I ask that because you write, read, run, work, have a family, and make time for solitude. Happy anniversary! And thank you for sharing your writing!
Happy Anniversary! I love your blog… your thoughtfulness is remarkable and I can honestly say that I feel, and admire, how present you are in each and every day. You are an inspiration to me. xoxox
Wow, six years is like 15 in blogging years! And I always relate to your quest to remaining in the now. It’s a main reason I blog as well. Thanks for being here, and so glad I found your site (a few years into your blogging journey).
Six years! Wow! I remain in awe of your commitment to sharing your joys and your struggles so regularly and in such beautiful prose.
I’ve told you before that your blog was a beacon to me at one of the darkest times of my life and that your stories here inspired me to start telling my own – and it was that writing that helped me find myself again. So not only do I feel lucky to have the chance to continue reading your words, I also owe you a tremendous debt of gratitude.
Here’s to many more years of blogging! xo
Isn’t it just amazing how something so special and important and life-changing for you has had such a profound effect and impact on so many others’ lives as well? I daresay hundreds, or thousands – not just yours and your family’s lives, but the many lives of all your readers, and all the lives that their lives touch, etc. etc…
I would LOVE to know what blogs/websites you are as addicted to as I/your readers are to A Design So Vast. Knowing you, you won’t want to offend anyone (by leaving them off the list), so I for one would love to see as many as you care to share…
Congratulations on the 6 year milestone!! So happy for you and so happy to have you blog!
xo
Margaret
Happy anniversary and congratulations! 🙂
Happy Anniversary! If there were a horoscope for blogs, ours would be Virgos 🙂 and they’d eat cake together. I’m so glad I found yours/you. I’ve told you before that it means so much that you show up, that you share your open heart, that it’s comforting and empowering to know I’m not the only one who sees how beautiful and brutal this life can be, who feels the tender sadness of it all.
Happy Anniversary!! Six years is amazing!!
Happy Blogoversary! Six years – wow! I want to thank you for continuing to write with an authenticity that is definitely palpable.
Here are a few questions:
1) Do you always think blogging will be a part of your life? Ever entertained a hiatus?
2) What is your favorite part of writing? And do you have advice for other writers regarding the craft of writing?
I will always be a fan.
Thank you.
I would really like to know how you deal with the moment sof parenting of which you are not proud. My children are exactly the same age as Whit and Grace were when you started this blog. I have already experienced scary moments when I act in a way I immediately wish I had not. How do you reconcile those experiences within yourself? I find reading books on parenting helps, some more helpful than others. But I am curious to know from someone so aware of their parenting, how do you find peace with the things you do well and the things you wish you did differently?
Congrats! I remember last year when it was five years. Wow–this year FLEW. My baby is almost 1. How crazy is that?
I totally agree about blogging changing the every day of our lives.
As for what I want to hear more about? I agree with the person above who mentioned wanting to hear more about what you’re reading!
Six years is a lot of words. Thank you for your inspiration and willingness to share your world. I will be celebrating my 1 year anniversary on Halloween and I have come to some of the same conclusions on the affects of writing on my life. That internal shift that is created from crafting thoughts into words, sentences, paragraphs and meaning has been invaluable to my life.