Ah-Ha! Moment: I’m Breaking Out of My Box

Some of you may know, some may not, but I have been blogging as Life as Leels since July 2011. SEVEN YEARS!

If you have been following, you have seen the changes. The name changes; the niche changes; the new sites; revamping of old sites. Changes. Too many changes.

You see, I started blogging as a direct sales tool. Shortly after starting (read: almost immediately) I found an underworld of bloggers who did this full time; who made a business of blogging and made money.

I switched directions, started listening to everyone, went to conferences, listened to trainings and started changing the way I did things. The way I was supposed to do things.

Days turned into weeks. Weeks turned into months. Months turned into years. I was making money blogging, but the more I learned, the more I tried to fit myself into this box and do what I was supposed to be doing.

After awhile, I started losing my love of writing, my love for blogging. But I didn’t want to stop.

Blogging has been such a huge part of me for so long and I have met some amazing people. But at the same time, I have such unique life experiences, I couldn’t just sit back and be quiet. I wanted (read: want) to share my experiences in hopes that it helps someone else going through the same thing.

But I was stuck in this box. I was doing what I was supposed to be doing. I was told I couldn’t do this and had to do this. Or I had to this and couldn’t do that.

I put myself in a box.

I started Experiencing Parenthood so I could be niche focused and share about parenting.

But I am more than a parent. I am more than a mom.

So I kept Life as Leels going so I could still share the non-parenting things because, you know, you can’t have a parenting niche and share things that didn’t fit into that niche. It wasn’t the way (that’s the message I kept getting.)

At the same time, I was being told that I couldn’t have a blog where I wrote about what I wanted. An “everything” niche, per se. It wasn’t the way.

So I had two blogs – one for parenting and one for everything that didn’t fit parenting. But I did book reviews and people kept saying those didn’t fit so I started a third blog.

Here I am, one person, a mom to three kids, a wife, a friend – a human – and I have three blogs that I am supposed to keep updated with social media for each of those. Who in the love of their right mind has time for all that ish!? Sure as hell not me.

Now add into my full time job with all of that. I can’t do that. I can’t. I don’t know any human that can.

So I am breaking out of my box. I am throwing away the rules, the supposed toos, the “wrong” way.

I am closing down Leels Loves Books and putting all the book reviews here. If you want them, they’ll be here. If you don’t want them, you can ignore them.

I already closed down Experiencing Parenthood. You can find all the parent talk here under the parenting talk tab. I can’t turn off the fact that I am a parent. I don’t want to. And my parenting experience (plus my 24+ years of child work) is helpful to others (they have told me so).

I am moving some content from Life as Leels to here and other content will stay there but it won’t be updated. The social media is going to slowly go away and shut down.

My semi-original (can it be original after having so many identity crises?) plan was to start this new blog with all the same content that is currently shared among three blogs, all in one. But why!?

Life as Leels is me. It has been me for seven years. It is my brand. It’s my baby. No matter how many times I try to walk away from her and just let her be, she calls back to me.

I don’t need to ‘restart’ anything. I need to pretty her up and just be me. So that’s what I am doing. To hell with everything else.

Everything can now be found here at Just Leels Life as Leels. Because that’s what this site is. It’s just me. Being me. No rules. No supposed too. No “this way” is the right way, “this way” is the wrong way. Just me being me.

So with that said, I hope you come along on this fun journey. Changes are coming – be warned. (I intend to do a lot of editing of images and posts; updating posts; deleting garbage and sharing new content.) I don’t have time for Life as Leels to be my business, but she will forever be my hobby because I just have too much to share to sit down and shut up!

Here’s hoping we chat soon!

#LoveLeels