Well, hello there! For multiple reasons, I haven't written on my personal blog since shortly after the devastating death of a dear friend and pastor figure in our lives. Every time I log into my blog, I see the picture of his beautiful family and start thinking about all of the ways their lives have changed and how hard it has been, and that's about as far as I get.
I tell myself that he would want me to keep writing. I read through old posts (some quite old now!) and smile a little at my musings and wonder at my own insights. Such a reflective, contemplative thinker I can be at times -- but only when I'm not too busy being, well, busy. I thrive on doing and going and working and serving, and yet if I don't take time to think and write and ponder and plan, things don't go well in my heart and mind. "So think and write," I tell myself.
I started another blog, one all about essential oils and my business, and that's been mostly fun and easy -- in large part due to my wonderful assistant who keeps me on track. That's writing, right? Of course it is. Yet this blog, my personal writing space, keeps calling to me, too. I had many subscribers at one time. I feel bad that I've neglected them, and yet I didn't start this blog to gather subscribers. I started it for me because I love to write and felt compelled to share some of my writing.
Late in 2016, I decided to relaunch my personal blog. I had been considering ideas about turning 40 and all of my friends who were born in 1977 and thought it would be fun to start a "We are 1977" series beginning Jan. 1, 2017. Alas, it turned out my long-neglected blog had been infiltrated and hacked to pieces. I couldn't log in and wasn't sure any of my past writings could ever be found again. Super Brandon the Web Guy came to my rescue and restored my blog, and we decided to start fresh here at crystalgarvin.com rather than resurrecting my old blog site.
Here I am, without excuse, and now that I'm making myself sit down to write, I'm excited. This really will be fun -- whether for anyone else, I don't know, but certainly for me. If you're along for the ride, thank you. Losing a friend who was only 42 and preparing to turn 40 myself has made me realize more than ever how precious time is and how short life is. My sincere hope is that since you're here I can somehow add value to your life, and I hope you'll interact with me here and reciprocate. (I believe we all have God-given worth and value that we can cultivate and add to each other.)
Surely you and I have many blogs from which to choose if we simply want to be amused or find someone who agrees with all of our opinions. I don't know if you're interested in the thoughts and lives of a bunch of people who are turning 40 this year or in the ideas of a work-from-home, Jesus-loving, homeschooling wife and mom, but if you're an old follower of Crystal Clear as Mud who has found me here, you already know that these posts could go in any direction -- deep thoughts, silly things, and even poetry will probably find their way here. I hope to see you on a weekly basis. Please feel free to hold me accountable to that. (Accountability does me a world of good.) Well, with that, there's no time like the present ... so here we go!
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