I’ve been away for a couple of days.  Daily routines get in the way. I’m back trying on themes. I’ve decided to try from the free ones as I’m still taking baby steps.   I’ve gone back and forth with a couple of themes and seem to come back to this one.  I like that its clean and simple but gives me some options with color, pictures and widgets.   Finding and downloading free public domain pictures has been a challenge.   I’ll keep exploring and trying out site and finding pictures that help define my blog.

I’m back!  I started with the last round of Blogging 101 at the beginning of the year.  I was trying to set up 2 blogs at once and somewhere along the way I got lost. When I first registered, I did it under my work blog Roz_Relocates_U.  I started writing here but posting there and then switched. I got stuck trying to research for the work blog, making it attractive for my audience and writing for the  workshop. I find I enjoy this one more so I’ve decided to start again and focus on my personal blog “Self Censored”. The name has changed from my original name.  The history of the metamorphosis and a bit about myself is in the previous posts.

Bottom line? I enjoy writing and right now I want to be creative and let my thoughts flow without having to worry too much about the outcome.  The feedback I was getting was helpful. I’m hoping to finish the four weeks and move on with a better blog and enthusiasm.

I liked this assignment.  It forced me to focus on another title for my blog, something more unique, more ME.  I was fond of that “Swirling Around in My Head” idea.  In fact, it had been “swirling” from the minute I started to contemplate writing a blog.   After I set up my theme with title and tag line, I decided to Google it.   Low and behold I found that there are lots of people with things “swirling around” in their respective heads.   I knew I had to make a change.

Here’s what I came up with:

SELF-CENSORED

A blog all about me and the thoughts I won’t share in pleasant company or FB

I think this new title is a play on words that really speaks to why I thought about writing a blog in the first place.  I wanted a place where I could speak my mind and impart the wisdom of my personal evolution without worrying that I’m offending someone.

Time for a little background:

When I was about 5 years old, my mother said she received a miraculous healing from God. She was almost 25 and going blind.  My aunt, my father’s sister, took her to a healing service and that was it.  Mom had faith.  It was done. She became a born-again Christian.  And so it was that, I was raised a fundamentalist evangelical in a place somewhere between a Southern Baptist and a Pentecostal. I went to bible institute, bible College, played guitar and Christian folk music in coffee shops, taught Sunday school and held leadership positions.

My parents weren’t radicals in the faith which allowed me the opportunity to come to my own conclusions and practice faith in my own way in spite of the environment. About the time I was turning 40 and going through a rough patch, I decided I had enough.  I needed more spirituality and less religion.  I’ve had some pretty strong opinions over the past few years when radical Christians are trying to run or ruin the country (depending on which side you are on). I still have friends and family that are pastors, missionaries, music ministers or quite involved their churches.  These folks are very dear to me.  They are good people and I prefer to stay away from hot topics on politics and religion at gatherings.

This brings me back to this blog about Me, Self-censored.

Assignment for the Blogging 101- linked to my personal blog-Swirling Around In My Head.

You could say I got carried away with enthusiasm.  Once I had this blog set up, I started another one shortly after.  My original idea was to start this personal one and once I felt comfortable, I would start the other for work.

At this point in my life however, I realize that sometimes you have to respond to a situation like the commercial says: “just do it”.  I think I’ll change my one word for the year to “DO!”.  Yes, with the exclamation point just to remind me.

People have always encouraged me to write and tell my stories, but life got in the way. In my search for inspiration at the end of 2014, I found this quote:  “Tomorrow (noun):  a mythical land where 99% of all human productivity, motivation and achievement is stored.”  Anonymous  

I didn’t want to wait another few months or perhaps years to get started.  I just jumped in.  I’m getting warmed up.  I’ve a grand total of 4 posts – if you count this one.  I’m finding my way around both sites and signed up for Blogging 101 at Blog U.  It starts today.  By the end of the course, keeping up with two blogs will be a piece of cake.

There’s more information about me, why and because in my first post.  The picture is of my Eliza Doolittle, more about her in another post.  Purple is my favorite color and that is a sunrise over the Bay at one of my favorite places to chill or meditate or both.     Feel free to take a look.