The Story of Why

I originally wrote this post in February. I’m republishing it now in response to a group writing prompt, “Why I Write.”

I was thinking about what project to finish today and, the truth is, I have so many things on that “finish it” list that I’m starting not to breathe very well.

The messy desk in the guest room…

The last curtain in the living room needs to be hung…

The garage needs to be cleaned out so I can finally park my car in it…

You get the idea.

But what I really want to finish today is this post, something I’ve been noodling about for some time. I want to explain to you why I write this blog.

So, flash back to about a week ago. (You should be seeing those little waves that come up on TV when someone says they are having a flashback…) I was reading one of my favorite magazines about home improvement and there was a story about a woman who redid a room in her house.

The story was about two pages long. It had two pictures – one of the room from one angle and one of the room from the other. No picture of her. No picture of anyone using the room. The article was about six or seven paragraphs long, total. It explained nicely what she did and how long it took and how much it cost and the like.

It explained nothing, however, about her. About why she did the room that way. About why she made the choices she did. About who uses that room and when and how and why. I was left wondering who she is. I wanted to know why she liked the room and its color scheme. I wanted to know more about her and her home.

And that’s why I write this blog. I want to give you that information about me and my home. I want you to know why I chose a red color scheme in my breakfast room rather than the black and white scheme and what happened to the pieces that got moved out of the breakfast room when I changed it. I want you to know why I work the way I do. I want you to see me and my home, and me through my home.

You can’t just do that in a couple of pages. That takes volumes. And that’s what I’ve tried to do here. If you read about me, if you read a few posts, I hope you get a sense of who I am and how I tick. I loved how many of you said that you knew I would pick the red fabric in the breakfast room. I love that many of you said that the curtains I made were “so me.” I love that you feel comfortable enough with me to ask me questions about the projects I feature here.

I think…I hope… that means that I’m conveying a story on this blog. Yes, it’s about projects and how to do projects around your home and all that. But it’s about telling a complete story – so that you understand me and my home and my thought process. In conveying that, I want to show you that YOU can do these projects, too; that you can find your style and make it work in your home; that it’s ok to screw up a project and learn from it and try again.

I am so thankful that you read this story. I am so thankful that you share your projects and ideas with me. Let’s keep it up, m’kay? There’s so much more to talk about. Let’s get at it.

As always, thank you for stopping by.