Bravery is not exactly the word I think of to describe this picture. Floral epidemic? Yes. Velcro City? Definitely. But not bravery. I look petrified. I enter more experiences with these flushed cheeks than I care to admit.

I battled for months about creating a blog because I wasn’t quite sure how I felt about blogs. I couldn’t even articulate why exactly I should have a blog. Then I realized I didn’t need to justify it to anyone else. Yes, there are much better writers with better content. There’s always someone better. But this blog is mine, these thoughts and stories are mine: humiliations and all. It’s a way for me to become a better writer, to process my thoughts, and learn more about myself and the world around me.

I have been toying around with different book ideas because I have a cluttered mind full of ideas and I crave the creative outlet. I spent my morning on our porch jamming to 90s R&B, jotting down thoughts on the Church, and taking exactly 59 selfies (not joking) for a group collage. I moved from blog to book and back again. Somewhere in the middle of a TLC song, I grabbed a journal from my desk hoping that writing the ideas by hand would inspire me. The very first page had a handwritten note from my best friend who gifted me the journal: “Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you’ve imagined.” She knows me oh so well.

Opportunities have presented themselves this year that I wouldn’t have tackled before. But this is a new year with new challenges. I’ve stepped out of certain roles and embraced new ones. I don’t want to look back and regret that I didn’t follow dreams or take on new experiences. I want to say I tried new things. I want to say I lived courageously.

Sometimes your unknown future will be a time of transformation and renewal for your spirit. Sometimes moving obliviously into new territory is exactly where God wants you.