Sometimes life hands us incredibly full seasons, and our own Melissa Michaels is in the midst of one of those right now. We hope you’ll join us in praying for her and her family as she dedicates time to finishing some beautiful projects, co-hosting a small blogging conference, moving to a new house, and all the other wonderfully, gloriously ordinary tasks that fill her days.
When we saw this post of hers from 2007, we fell in love and wanted to share it with you today because 8 years later, authenticity is still a very good thing.
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July 2007
So, being totally new to blogging and not really knowing the first thing about it, I decided to take a little tour today around other people’s blogs. Just to see what this is all about. I found quite by accident an old friend Alicia’s blog (hello, Alicia!) and from there I was thrust into a world of fantastic blogs that were so wonderful and beautiful and created by such immensely talented people, I contemplated just hanging it all up, saying “Good-bye, World!” and ending it all right now. “All” meaning the blog, of course.
I moped around for the rest of the afternoon, thinking to myself: How in the world would I ever be able to put together something so colorful, so insightful, so helpful and impressive to measure up to these talented people? I don’t sew my own aprons or design cute little baby clothes. I don’t make my own pasta. I hardly ever make tartlets (Ok, I never do). I don’t have time to take fabulous photos of my backyard parties and include step by step instructions (with photos) for my famous smoked pork shoulder. I’ve never even made smoked pork shoulder. We have Costco top sirloin burgers. With ketchup.
As I wandered through my house, with two 7-year-old boys running wildly and loudly through a sea of over-turned couch cushions, every blanket in the house now piled in my kitchen, and peanut butter sandwich crusts still on plates from lunchtime, it hit me. HELLO!? What are those little words right after my blog and business name? Refining Your Home for Authentic Living™. AUTHENTIC LIVING? Oh my gosh. I did it again.
I profess authentic living and designing one’s home to be beautifully inspired by who you really are . . . yet I got distracted by beautiful and amazing things I just can’t do right now (or will never do) and felt a momentary twinge of “blog-and-life-envy.”
I had to counsel myself back to my life. We all have different circumstances, different abilities, different likes and dislikes, and different objectives.
We are at different places in our life and in our blogs! But, of course, that is what makes us unique.
If we can just harness our uniqueness and create our life and home (and blogs!) to reflect who we REALLY are and what we want to accomplish, we would be so much happier!
We can be inspired by all these lovely things that we see. We can stretch ourselves to see new beauty, apply what is appropriate for us. and just enjoy that other people have Martha Stewart all covered in the creative department. We don’t have to be Martha (or Alicia, or any of the other amazing women out there) to be happy, to have beautiful homes, or to have something to offer the world. Beauty and wisdom can come from our reality.
My reality is children ranging from ages 7 to 19 and all their friends running happily through my hallways and eating our food non-stop, parents who are living with us while they are remodeling their home, a husband who is a great help in the home but would really rather watch a movie than make hand-made paper, running my own decorating consulting business, a 4700 square foot 1930s fixer-upper on a limited budget (yes, I know, what was I thinking!) and a love for a beautiful home.
Somehow I have to put all that reality in a blender, mix it up with some inspiration from other talented people, and create something beautiful for my own happiness and for my family and friends’ well-being. That is creating an authentically beautiful life & home (or blog!). And that’s a good thing 🙂
Update September 2015: EIGHT years later, I’m still blogging and loving every minute of it! I never would have imagined I’d still be here, but I have found so much joy just learning to be who God created me to be and finding contentment right where I am. As only God can do, He has used my humble creative offering in each season of life in a new way. If authenticity and loving the home you have right now resonates with you, you might enjoy my first book, Love the Home You Have, which became a a New York Times Bestseller (I can’t believe it!). God has a great sense of humor, but I know without a doubt He takes great delight in giving us each good gifts we can use for His glory.
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