New

I love brand new things.  Often times new is associated with extravagant, but it doesn't take much to make this girl happy.  A new bottle of lotion from Bath & Body Works.  A new book with it's fresh, crisp pages to be turned.  The overwhelming scent of a brand new candle, and perhaps my favorite "new":  A brand new notebook.  Do you remember being dragged to the store by your parents as a child and hearing "If you behave, you can pick out one thing."?  I was the kid who picked out a new notebook.  Sometimes, Mom would throw in a new package of pencils or pens too.  My "pencil zipper pack" in the front of my school binder laying perfectly on a 250 count package of lined notebook paper may as well have been gold. 

I used to dream about writing.  I wanted to write a book.  I'd practice my signature over and over, to perfect my autograph for the hundreds of book signings I would have.  I wasn't sure what I'd write about, but surely whatever it would be someone would read it.  Right?

Somewhere along the way, the word "blog" was introduced to society.  When I was in high school, I was bullied for having a blog.  I didn't like being made fun of, but knowing that I had my own little corner in the ever-expanding world wide web was comforting.  Somebody was reading.  Somewhere.

Flash-forward 15 years and we have "professional bloggers".  Eat your heart out, bullies!  Though I've had my own private blog for almost 10 years, I've always dreamt about the Major Leagues.  The Blogs I read belong to incredible women:  Women who have faced trials and overcome, adversity and persevered.  They've done great things with their "Blogosphere Fame" - they've truly changed the world, one "hit" at a time!

And yet, here I am.  I'm no one incredible.  I've got no special story to tell.  Still, I've been encouraged for a while now to begin blogging publicly.  I've got to admit, though I have no idea where this blog will go or what it will become, the blankness of it excites me.  It's new!  It can become whatever it wants to become.  Maybe I will become a peer to the "Blogging Goddesses" of our generation; maybe I'll slip quietly into my own corner and simply write.

Whatever happens, I haven't been this excited since I had my own Lisa Frank Folder full of college-ruled paper and a pack of matching mechanical pencils!