Words cannot describe how excited I am to say, “Welcome back to A New Kind of Normal!!!”
It has been way, way too long since I have had a chance to really sit down and write and – excuse my French – damn it feels good! 2017 has a hell of a year all the way around and I am so glad that it is OV-ER and a new year is upon us! I have so, so much to tell you and so, so many things that I want to see accomplished this year but I am learning to embrace moderation to avoid burnout.
I am sorry that this post is so short but so far I have been working on this blog for 8 hours straight! You will be seeing a lot of sawdust as the site is still under construction! I know you saw the Maintenance sign up but what can I say, I am a girl that changes her mind and I just have so many ideas that I want to put into action and I just didn’t want to wait any longer!
Reconnecting
A New Kind of Normal has always been focused on changing the lives of those with chronic illness and encouraging the to choose hope and joy despite chronic illness and to live boldly in spite of it. This will continue to be the driving force behind it but this year the focus will narrow in on reconnecting to our bodies in a positive way and reclaiming our confidence. When you have chronic illness, it can be difficult to maintain a positive view of your body when you feel like it has betrayed you. If I had a dollar for every time I ever said “My body hates me,” I would be living on a tropical island. I hate feeling this way and I know that I am not alone that is why I am hoping to change my way of thinking. Scratch that – that is what I am hoping to change our way of thinking.
Reclaiming
Along with reconnecting, let’s talk about the reclaiming. My family makes statements all the time about my love of makeup as an attempt to feel beautiful when it couldn’t be farther from the truth. I don’t need makeup to be beautiful. God stitched me together piece by piece and He called me beautiful so I can feel beautiful in a glamorous wedding gown or a hospital gown or in full glam makeup with false eyelashes, the whole nine yards or not a stitch of makeup. Now that we have laid that to rest, let’s get to the real reason why I love makeup so much.
The second half of this goal focuses on reclaiming our confidence. Makeup doesn’t make me feel beautiful, it makes me feel confident. It gives me an avenue through which I can express my creativity. I can feel feminine. I can feel edgy. I can feel both. I want for each of one of us to find an avenue through which we can all reclaim this confidence. I want us to feel good about our bodies and feel spunky, sassy, sexy, fierce, creative, bold, audacious, unique, and on and on. I want that for all of us. Each and every one of us deserve to feel like the most rockin’ chick on the planet.
This is what I want for A New Kind of Normal. This new mission statements reads:
to create a community of rebel hearts living boldly to smash through the limitations that chronic illness has tried to build around them with a fierce beauty and confidence all their own.
The five things that I want a reader to feel while she is reading my blog is connected, empowered, inspired, creative, and confident.
Reading these five words get me so excited that my husband is honestly giving me weird looks.
This is just a small taste of what is to come! I cannot wait to finish telling out everything that I have planned for A New Kind of Normal but that will have to wait until tomorrow!