As my blog progresses, I'm discovering three themes I keep focusing on. This is where blogs and journals have a lot in common...I turn my lens on myself, and it helps me give words to the themes I'm developing in my own life.
It appears that my current focal points in my blog (and my life) are creativity, conservation, and DIY. There's a lot of overlap, but I think I focus on each independently enough that they really are three things.
Why these things? I have some ideas. For many years, I was focused primarily on my professional development. Graduate school, dissertation, career. I've been working in the same place now for three years (as of last week), and I just realized, right now today, that professional development is no longer the bright shining star in my growth as a person. It's become a much more subtle influence, shifting from who I am in the field of psychology to how I do my work every day ethically, efficiently, and effectively without getting bogged down or overwhelmed. My growth in this area has slowed down, and without realizing it, I've been looking for the next step.
I've been looking for this next step while steeped in the culture of Portland, a hotbed of DIY creativity and day-to-day environmental practice. I've been in Portland now for 7 1/2 years, and I love it here. Even as I stare out the window at another grey, wet, drizzly day and wonder if I'm going to drown before the rainy season is over, I'm happy to be here. Things make sense to me here. And you can't help but be more attuned to what you make, how you make it, and how you impact the world.
I've always been the person who wants to learn to make and do everything, even if I only do it once. And I've always been inspired to do so by whatever's around me, whether baking cookies or building a fort as a kid. So now I guess it makes sense that these things have become my next step(s) forward in who I am as a person.
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