(NOTE: This post is also available in audio form as a podcast – https://anchor.fm/deepthoughtthursdays/embed/episodes/Celebrating-10-Years-of-Elyse-e1es998)
I often have to remind myself of how lucky I truly am. It’s so easy to get swept up in the day-to-day, week-to-week, month-to-month, year-to-year cycle. And before you know it, the years-to-years have become decades. In that time, so many things that were once important get thrown by the wayside, as we seek to navigate the ever-so-unpredictable nature of life (i.e. 2020 and 2021). Shamefully, I am more than guilty of letting far too many years and excuses get in the way of my destiny — to be a traditionally published author.
Last week, this discarded passion came back to me full-circle and like a giant flashing neon arrow, is now pointing me in the direction I was meant to take all along. After receiving the oh-so-good news that I won the Daughters of the American Revolution’s (DAR) Massachusetts Women’s Issues Contest in the Family category, my current-well-thought-out plan was completely altered. I can’t ignore the fact I’m meant to be a writer. For way too many years, I’ve let all of the distractions — motherhood, fitness businesses, more side hustles than I can imagine, etc. — keep me from doing what my heart truly desires. The fire in my belly, which had been reduced to just an ember, wouldn’t let me forget that pursuing a dream that I’ve had since I was a child, will bring me even more happiness (and perhaps a bit of success), if I just listen to my heart. But out of fear of the “unknown,” my dream had been shunned, ignored and almost forgotten — until now.
Today, February 24th, is Elyse’s tenth birthday. I started this blog in October 2011 while I was pregnant with her. My introductory post debuted two days before I had my first IVIG infusion — a treatment that would *almost* guarantee her safe arrival into the world. Every Thursday evening, I would sit down at my computer accompanied by a cup of hot chai and a stack of chocolate chip cookies and would allow my emotions to pour out through my fingertips. It was cathartic, it was empowering, it was a dream in the making. I faithfully blogged each week until May 2014, when life got a bit too busy and it became easier and easier to brush my weekly musings aside. Over the years, I’d start new blogs, pop into this one every once in a while or distract myself with some other project that I thought would be more appealing to the outside world. But, I couldn’t let this nagging feeling go. The ember still burned on and on and on.
Once I got the news that my Women’s Issues essay had won, the ember burst into a full-blown flame. It’s been burning so hot, that it’s keeping me awake at night. The ideas just keep coming, my fingers are itching to get back to the keyboard and my once rock-solid daily routine has been thrown on its head, as I seek to figure out how to make my writing a priority among all of the other things that demand my attention and/or have become a part of my life over the last decade. Getting these words out into the blogosphere is just the beginning.
In honor of Elyse’s birthday, which happens to be on a Thursday, this Deep Thought Thursdays Grand Reopening post easily came to life — and simultaneously brought me back to life along with it. At high noon, my little NAIT miracle will turn 10 — double-digits. If you’d like to also take a trip down memory lane with me, you can read all about her birth story. I reread her birth story post, along with about two dozen others, while trying to fall asleep last Wednesday night. As I waded through writings that documented the months and weeks leading up to her birth and beyond, my internal flame grew brighter than it had in almost 10 years. It was a true awakening — a rebirth of a part of myself that I almost lost.
It’s no secret that we’ve all endured a lot during the last few years. We’ve all got battle scars (inside and out), new perspectives on just about everything and, for me, a deeper appreciation of the simpler things in life. These are the types of things that I used to love to write about — circumstances, celebrations and coincidences that just can’t be denied. And thanks to the magic of second chances and urls that were still up for grabs, Deep Thought Thursdays (DTT) is back, and will, hopefully, be better than ever.
Happiest of birthdays to our Little Lysie. Thank you for being my daughter and my inspiration. According to the latest statistics, you are definitely one in 1,000, but, more like one in a million to me, baby!
Deep Thought Thursdays 