Blogs and wistful (wishful?) thinking

Today is an exercise in mind over matter, as in I mind that this dissertation I am working on is not yet complete and it matters that I get it done.  Being someone who always lives up to her responsibilities, I awoke, grabbed my computer, and promptly sat down to search for all those cute and creative blogs I stumbled across in December when looking for things-to-make-as-gifts.  That's okay. Sometimes the path toward one's destination is not along the straight and narrow.  And so I am going to indulge my need for detours with just a brief post on a few blogs that I've recently discovered.

http://thepioneerwoman.com/ -- I started reading this blog last week when a friend recommended the author's black-eyed peas recipe. I didn't end up using this recipe (my New Year's plans usurped by other recipes), but it inspired me to make something even easier, healthier, although still not vegan-friendly (with no apologies to those with cibophobia).


http://pistolsnprincesses.blogspot.com/ -- A friend's blog. She has the funniest stories!


http://orangette.blogspot.com/ -- My SIL shared this blog with me when she found her favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe here.  I just appreciate the author's love of food.


http://moneysavingmom.com/ -- My Nay shared this with me because of all of the updates on how to save money and get good deals. And who doesn't like that?

And finally, I stumbled upon this today in an effort to find some blogs I originally found in December. I think I'll like this one, too: http://www.simplymodernmom.com/  I still did not find the blogs I was looking for, so maybe that's an adventure for another day.

These blogs inspire me.  I like different aspects of each and find myself thinking I wish I had her humorous writing style or  I wish I was that detailed or I wish I were that organized or sometimes, as in the case of a few of the better-known blogs, How in the world does that woman have the time to do everything? (It is the latter of which I am most jealous, obviously, since I am pretty sure that these women have discovered the secret to obtaining 36-hour days.)  It was only today, in fact, that I realized it's okay to be myself, to not have all of these things that I admire in the blogs of other women.  It sounds silly and strange, I know, to finally, at this point in my adult life, realize it's okay to be yourself! We teach children, or at least I tried to teach children, that the things that made them unique were valuable, and that when a bunch of admirable, unique people were combined and given a task they could produce something great, something imaginative, something beautiful.  I am not sure why it takes so many years for me to learn the lessons I teach to children; I would say that I'm not very bright, but in reality I think that it has something to do with being stubborn.

My Stubborn Self seems to work in league with my Guilt Monster on days like these, telling me things that I don't want or need to know, things that are untrue.  And so today I sat Stubborn Self and Guilt Monster down and gave them a good talking-to:

"Now listen, you two, I am fine the way I am. The reason I like all of these blogs is because they offer something unique. The authors were born with gifts that make them special. I have things that make me special. And however much I've thought otherwise in the past, I don't want my blog to look like those of others! Who wants to read the same thing all the time? So let me be, let me do my own thing, and let me enjoy the blogs I read without you getting in the way!!"

I was a bit forceful at the end. But that's okay. They needed to hear it and I needed to say it.  Life is better when its filled with a kaleidoscope of individuals.