I have to laugh whenever I start a new blog, as I have started several over the years. I think my very first blog was meant to be a travel blog, as I had moved to Australia at the time. I had hoped that by having a travel blog, it would make me feel like a world traveler, as well as have a location to post pictures of my “adventures” for my family and friends back home to see all the fantastic things I was up to.
I should mention, I was 21 at the time. I had left Canada, leaving behind a boyfriend that I didn’t realize I was running away from. I was feeling lonely, but also excited to start a new chapter in another country. That can be a story for another post, but, needless to say, I was hoping that my blogging career was going to take off from my little updates on life in Brisbane, Australia. Unfortunately, it didn’t last long. My year in Australia was busy with long work hours and trying to see as much of Australia as I could before I left (including as many clubs as I could… ha).
I believe I started a second one, or maybe it was an extension of the first, to post updates on my travels in Northern Ireland, where I was living each summer over 2 years while conducting field research for my Master of Science degree. Again, likely another story for another day, but it felt good to post things, even though it was random, given my time overseas was spent throwing together ideas for field site visits, festival and club visits, and touring as much of Europe as I could before I had to return to Canada for the winter months.
Then there was a blog about my kids, that I created purely for updating my family members about the craziness of being a first-time mom. It was mostly filled with pictures, and very little content. I hadn’t found Instagram yet, and I didn’t like spending a lot of time on Facebook, so a pseudo-blog was where it was at for me. I don’t even know what happened to these blogs. They may still be out there or perhaps I deleted them and moved on. I can’t remember.
The last blog I did was a year ago, and it was more just for fun. I wanted to try and blog about my journey as a mother, but then I became busy as a mother and that didn’t end up going anywhere.
Now I don’t want this post to make you think that I will not commit to this blog. My husband will tell you that I have always been one with commitment issues, and that I have a tendency towards flight instead of fight. However, this past year has taught me a lot about myself. I went through some rougher times. All the time indoors (thanks COVID) really was getting me down. I am the type that likes to be around people – volunteering, working, travelling, drinking coffee… So, to suddenly be forced into being away from people indefinitely was really tearing me down (I know I am not alone on this). So, one day, I decided to buy a book by Stephen King called “On Writing”. It made me realize how much I used to use writing as a way to cope with my stress and feelings as I grew up. I loved writing poems and short stories to process what I was feeling and how I was going to move forward, although fiction showed up many times as well. This also made me realize how long it had been since I sat down and really committed to just writing for the sake of writing (no, really, thanks COVID).
Now, here we are. I had picked up Stephen King’s book in August or early September of 2020. I started writing a book idea that came to me while reading his book shortly after. Well, I finished that book draft in February 2021. So, this month (March) I am taking a break from the book, but I am finding that I miss the time writing. Now, this blog is being “born” out of that need to write. I realized how much writing makes me happy and how it helps me feel more complete. I also realized how many people I have started to meet (albeit virtually) all because I decided that I want to follow this path of writing and see where it takes me. I might not ever make a cent from this path, but I don’t care. At this point, I am here just to enjoy the ride.
This blog (or website?) will host a myriad of things. I plan to post some short stories that I will write based on prompts that I find on the internet to keep my writing flowing. Now that I have found this joy in my spare time, I don’t want to lose it. I will also put up the odd post like this one – explaining different parts of my journey, perhaps in life, as a mom, or as an unpaid writer. I also love to take pictures, so I hope to post the odd favorite photo from my photography. Hopefully one day, it will even show you a list of published books, but we shall see what the future holds.
Although COVID has been horrible in so many ways, and I know that many people have had it so much worse than me (my heart goes out to you all), I have to admit that this experience has at least made me look inside myself to find the little writer that has been hiding under my skin all these years. I didn’t mean to tuck her away all this time, so hopefully she will come out and shine some light.
Thank you for coming to my blog. I hope you enjoy the journey with me.
K. D. Kulpa 