The Reason.

Why resurrect this blog?

The impetus was meeting Hilary Thayer Hamann, the author of one of my favorite books in the entire world (and inspiration for the name of this blog) Anthropology of an American Girl. The book was rereleased this summer and I was honored to write a review that is featured on her website. (I wrote the second review signed T.H.).


She is truly an amazing woman and graciously spent a couple of hours with brown-eyed babe and myself. It was positively surreal and hands-down the highlight of my summer. A few weeks later I recieved a beautifully handwritten  note from her which is now one of my prized possessions. I love that lady.

This amazing experience occurred toward the beginning of June. It was quite unexpected and resulted from my blogging. This lead me to contemplate why I had let my blogging fall by the wayside and why I was feeling so unmotivated and stagnant. I was anxious that my other blog had no direction and that I had nothing of value to contribute which prolonged the hiatus. What better way to avoid feelings than to ignore whatever it is you think is causing that feeling. I avoided the blog, I avoided writing, I avoided creating and instead threw myself into reading and hid in my books. But as they always do, the books I found myself drawn to started to light a path and my summer of discovery began to take shape.

I read (and continue to read) various books and blogs on creativity/art/journaling.  I created a tumblr to serve as a outlet for the images and words that I found myself drawn to.  I began writing every single day. Then I was gifted with a glorious week alone as brown-eyed babe went to get Disneyfied with my parents. I started art journaling. I started breaking the rules of what I had believed journaling to be. I started focusing on the process, not the product,and certainly not perfection. I allowed myself to let go and dream about what my life can be and what I want it to be rather than what I percieve everyone else thinks it should be.

My feelings of joy resulting from the creative process snowballed and I decided that I needed to make a change to allow myself more freedom. I had placed unnecessary restraints on myself and my writing/blogging over the past two years. I (oddly enough) needed to give myself permission to break free of the practical and dive into the whimsical.

Who said that I wasn't an artist? Who said that I wasn't a writer? Who said that I wasn't creative? Who said that I have to constantly fight to compensate for single motherhood by attempting to blend in with the traditional and conventional? Who said that I did not have an entrepreneurial spirit? Who said that I have to have a legal career like everyone else?

My inner critic, that's who.

My return to this blog is me telling my inner critic to shut the fuck up.