I guess I’m not sorry anymore?

I like to write. I like to take photos. I like to share.

I like big cities, I like the mountains. I like clothes, fashion, and interior design — and I like simplicity and the essentials.

I like thinking deeply about things, and I like brushing things off.

I like a lot of things.

It’s no secret that I enjoy blogging and the digital world — for any of you that read regularly, or even just smirk at my daily Instagram post, you know this well enough.

Writing, blogging, and styling my brand is probably one of my favorite things to do — it is what I went to school for, it is what I do when I’m not thinking about the clock, and it is what I would like to pursue.

And again, I like a lot of things, so it’s hard to brand myself one certain way — in fact, I don’t want to.

I spent a lot of time agonizing over what I wanted my brand to be. Urban outfitters chic? Outdoorsy? Gal Meets Glam couture?

Then I realized… that’s not what mattered — authenticity is what mattered. And authenticity is what I try to portray, with all sides of who I am.

Embracing every part of me, and realizing that’s okay.

As I have worked on this in the public eye — because social media, it has taken a toll on me emotionally, from a connection stand point.

Blogging and photography — one of my ultimate passions.

It is interesting, that although it is one of my passions, it is also the thing that I am the most self-conscious about. It’s the thing that keeps me up at night when someone makes a comment. It’s the thing that I make fun of myself for before anyone has a chance to beat me to it.

It’s the thing that often times frustrates me beyond belief, when I see someone I haven’t seen in a while and they say, “you are so professional and doing so well — I see all your posts.” End conversation.

Yes, you see them. But like, can we talk still? Can you still ask me how my day was? Can you assume that everything that happens in my life isn’t on the ‘Gram?

Because, duh, it’s not.

And this issue, this issue of people assuming they know me, I do it to myself. And to be honest, it tells me that I am good at what I do. However, I wish that people could also realize that I do it for my job, for my career goals — to hopefully inspire someone with one of my cheesy posts to get up and go.

I do it to myself, I just wish people would sometimes choose to go a little deeper. To not trust just the blog and the pictures, but have a conversation about what I eat for breakfast and what we think about different scientific theories.

And it’s not everyone that does this — it’s not.

And the ones that do, it’s not even their fault. Because it’s easy to assume you know someone based on their tweet.

And really, I write this to encourage you to not assume you know anyone solely from their Facebook status or LinkedIn update. Because you don’t. And you deserve to meet different people in your life, really meet them, not just say hello and move on.

Although this has been a weird adjustment, although I have gotten annoyed with people assuming they know me to the core — it has also been a lesson for me, to not “know” someone based on the photo of them jumping of a cliff in Tahoe.

 

Lesson learned.

As people made more and more comments about how often I post, or how well I’m doing — it started to get to me. And actually, it put off my goal of starting a lifestyle blog nearly six months.

Why?

Because I was worried that people would think of me as materialistic, obsessed with my number of likes, no one to go on a camping trip in Yosemite with.

And finally, I have realized that I don’t care.

I don’t care if you don’t understand why I post so often. I don’t care if you think blogging is dumb. I don’t care if you’re tired of seeing my posts about coffee.

I don’t care.

Because, I like a lot of things. I like designing things. I like sharing those things with like-minded people.

So that’s what I’m going to do.

My “why” in life is to help others to find and follow theirs. I want to help people realize their passions and pursue them. I want to enable people to reach their goals. I want to show people their potential.

I want to inspire people.

And I happen to be decent at writing a cliche blog and branding myself on social media. So, that happens to be a good way for me to do that.

So that’s what I’m going to do.

Because it’s worth it for the Facebook message I get from an acquaintance from my past telling me that what I wrote was exactly what they needed to hear. The texts that no one ever sees telling me to keep up my writing.

That’s what makes it worth it, and that’s why I’m going to do it.

I’m tired of preaching to everyone to live their dreams while going home and caring what others think about mine. Because at the end of the day, the ones that matter — they’ll be there.

That is just my anecdote. If you have a passion, a goal, a dream — anything that you enjoy doing, anything that you love, please do it. Don’t worry if people think you’re weird. Please follow it, own it, and don’t apologize for it.

That is what I want for you, and finally, that is what I want for me.