Blogging, mid-life, Rubbish Rescue, the suburban home

(Not) Measuring Up

It has been a while since I wrote a post for the blog. I have been in a real funk for several weeks. It has taken me a little while to work through what had me feeling down. I realized that along with a hurt back, my main problem was that I just didn’t measure up out here in blog land, in my life, or with my projects. I started to believe I did not have anything worth sharing.

It took me a while to figure out that I was using an unrealistic ruler to measure my life… the Internet, Pinterest, HGTV…I also forgot for a little while that hobbies are supposed to feel like fun, not pressure. I started to feel stressed about my projects. Would they measure up?

When I log onto some of my favorite blogs, I found myself comparing my home to the beautiful images on the screen. There is a home tour right now that has some beautiful homes. You can start the home here: http://southernhospitalityblog.com

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Isn’t that a beautiful room? I love the light, the classic furnishings, even the pillows are plumped and chopped.

I don’t live there. I live in a home with a husband who frequently forgets his shoes in the family room and must have a reclliner, two dogs who drag in dirt daily, a cat who causes the big dog to jump up on the furniture in hot pursuit at least once daily, not to mention my clutter and projects making a mess. That room would look like a tornado blew through in about five minutes at my house.

Here is my family room, as I found it this morning. All I did was turn on the lights.
See the dog? More on that in a moment.

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Here is what she was up to.

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One water bottle shredded.

And that was after she chewed on this bill.

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We have wires that are unsightly.

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And the men in my home seem to have a vendetta against pillows. One is missing a button now and my pretty ruffled down pillow apparently was sat on recently. How about the coffee table?

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I am sure you have seen enough by now. My home is not Pinterest worthy. I started to feel like I had nothing to offer, nothing to say.

So… I had to reexamine why I blog, who I blog for, and regain my own personal center.

I blog because I like to connect with folks I may never meet in person. My home and projects are a creative outlet for my sometimes stressful and high pressure job. I really do like hearing from you all and I love the suggestions you make. I never would have tried my new favorite red color- red, red wine without the suggestion.

Over this summer I am going to work on a series about keeping it real. I am going to beg you all to send in pictures from time to time, so be prepared.

I have some really cool projects planned this summer, but those projects don’t define me.

I hope you stay tuned, but I am okay if you don’t. No hard feelings.

Now, I am off to tackle my garage.

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Now you go check out that home tour. Just don’t measure your own home by what you see, please.

I hope you have a blessed day,

Karen