When I first started the blog it was titled, "South Dakota Transplant". I chose that name because we had just relocated to South Dakota and I was having a difficult time adjusting to the isolation of the area, but at the same time was loving the beauty of the land.
After a couple of years, though, the isolation combined with my mother's death and the down economy sent me spinning into despair and depression, bitterness, and negativity soon found their way into my life and I just couldn't move past them. Then one day, while watching an old Abbott and Costello movie with my husband, my old pastor's words came to mind. He once said that the best medicine for sadness is 30 minutes of laughter every single day and a good, clean sitcom like Abbott and Costello or I Love Lucy could do wonders.
It was also at that time that I was reminded how happier I was back then, and it was partly due to the fact that I would look for one thing to be grateful for every single day … It was that attitude of gratitude that carried me through so many trials and tribulations. Practicing to be grateful for the little things helped me focus on what was most important in my life and it helped me find contentment in what was… so I switched gears and started blogging under a new theme which I affectionately called, "Coming Home with Alyice Edrich".
At first it would take me two, sometimes three, hours to write a single post. It was hard digging through the mess of sadness I felt to find things outside of my husband and kids to be grateful for. But as time went on, it slowly became easier to find things to be grateful and eventually, as if by magic, being grateful had once again become second nature.
That blog ran for two years. But once I developed an attitude of gratitude, I no longer felt the need to be accountable to the universe and was ready to let the blog go.
Strangely enough, it was at that time that my husband encouraged me to get back into arts 'n crafts. He reminded me how happy creating made me and thought it would help keep the depression at bay. I loved creating but because I still hadn't made any friends locally to share my creations with, I felt like the best part of creating—the sharing—was missing, so I once again switched gears with my blog.
From 2008 until 2012, I'd post images and blurbs about what I had created, I'd mention places I was featured, and I'd share links to artists I interviewed for my column over at Empty Easel (which is now in its 3rd year), but to be honest, except for the few posts I chose to keep online, there wasn't any real heart or soul in those posts. And after sharing so much depth during my gratitude stint, it was hard to talk about art—especially when I was just coming out of a deep depression and trying to find my creative mojo again.
I know it seems crazy to build an audience and then totally switch gears—losing that audience and starting all over again—but I wasn't blogging for monetary success, or fame in the blogosphere. I was blogging for me. I was blogging in hopes of finding internal peace, and once I reached my goal I was ready to move on. And if I could minister to someone along the way, all the better.
Today, I've decided to wipe the slate clean because I want a fresh start on life… I don't want to be reminded of the darkness that loomed over me but I want to rejoice in the inner peace I now feel…
And I hope you'll stick around for the ride. (wink)
© Alyice Edrich, All Rights Reserved. www.alyiceedrich.com
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