Do you seek change or try to avoid it at all costs? Either way you approach it, change is constantly happening in our lives, and here’s why I want to talk about it.
I’ve been thinking a lot about this blogging space of mine. Thinking a lot about the content, the meaning, and the focus. And when I say focus, I actually mean the lack of focus. I’ve been feeling a little lost in my message and what the point of this space is. It’s become a bit all over the place, like a diary of things I feel like writing about at any given moment. I’ve been wanting to find more focus, something that makes this blog and messages unique. I’ve been looking for that focus, not necessarily because I think blogs with a purpose have a stronger audience (though of course, that would be a nice bonus), but it’s because I want to feel inspired to write and share something unique with readers.
There are tons of health and wellness blogs and that’s a space I want to stay in as it’s what I’m truly passionate about. Health and wellness has become a very widespread and broad topic. It’s great that so many people are able to share their experiences and advice to allow healthy living to be relatable and attainable. Over the years, my blog has documented my race training, workouts, what I’m eating, studio reviews and other random musings and experiences.
Some blogs are very focused and some are all over the map; I enjoy both types. The blogs that stand out the most to me have a mission; a statement with something to say. The content is recognizable, consistent and engaging. I started to think about what my “thing” could be.
What could set my blog apart? What unique idea could bring me focus and inspiration? This was the hard part. A lot of things often change, so how can you focus on just one thing? My blog had a lot of content around life in NYC, now I don’t live there. I could focus on life in California, but that also is (likely) temporary (we’ll chat about that later). My blog name is ShapinUp and my last name isn’t even Shapin anymore! Ok actually, I haven’t gone through the steps to change it yet, but I promise I will get around to it soon. The more I thought about potential topics and focuses, everything just seemed to bring me back to CHANGE.
That sparked some thought. Hm, change. You know the saying, “the only constant is change”? It’s very true. We all go through lots of changes in life. Some changes we seek out (like getting married, moving across the country) and some changes are forced upon us (getting laid off, getting injured, etc) and we have to cope and deal with it. The changes we seek and the changes we don’t necessarily want to happen, we deal with them, and that’s something I want to explore–primarily from a health and wellness viewpoint. How do we welcome change, growth, and evolution in our lives in a positive way for us and those around us?
I think that change is such an important part of life. It helps us to learn about ourselves and others; experiences of change helps us to grow and become well-rounded people. This has been top of mind for me in the past year since moving across the country. It’s a change I wanted, but nonetheless, it has its challenges. Part of me wonders why anyone would want to move 3,000 miles away from the majority of their friends, family and a known way of life. The other part of me asks, how could you not take the opportunity to experience something totally new and challenging?
Am I an expert in change and how to deal with it? Certainly not. But something I’ve learned from fellow bloggers is that you don’t have to be an expert or be perfect to share your experiences. We’re all learning and growing and it’s not about perfection or being the most knowledgeable. It’s about sharing your experiences and your path with readers as we all figure it out together.
Moving forward, is ShapinUp totally changing? Nope! I’ll still bring you posts about my life, recipes I love, workouts I enjoyed, travel and all that good stuff. But I’m going to shift some focus to talk about changes–big and small–and how we deal with them and learn from them, a healthy and balanced way.
If you’ve been thinking content around these parts has been light, you’re absolutely right. I’m excited about taking ShapinUp in a new direction. I’m feeling a spark of inspiration and I hope that you’ll take this journey with me.
