
Fresh theme; fresh(ish) start
I began LivingNimbly over a year ago as a way to catalogue and process my life experiences. I knew that I wanted to blog about adjusting to a new city (DC –> MPLS). I knew that I wanted to talk about my experiences working in the communication field (Freelance + working at General Mills). I knew that I wanted to use this blog as a platform to connect with people, adding to the collective of stories stored in digital spaces (blogger meetups, online groups, etc.). This is what I wanted to do with LivingNimbly.
At the end of the day, I created a food-focused blog. That wasn’t what I originally saw myself creating, but it made a lot of sense at the time. I read a LOT of food blogs with my work at General Mills. I cooked (and still cook) a lot and wanted a space to share recipes and food-related ideas. Food was (and still is) a really hot, sharable topic in the blogosphere. When I sat down at my laptop to make content, food just kept coming back to me.
Over the past week (by the time I post this… probably 3 weeks), I have been thinking a lot about my blog. I like the writing aspect of it, but I’ve been feeling less and less motivated to sit down and do it (though that could just be Mercury in retrograde). I love the networking aspect of it, but at the end of the day, I’m not creating collaborative content. I know that when I write, I am cataloguing, but why am I not synthesizing. My “food-centric lifestyle blog” wasn’t what I imagined. It wasn’t providing me with what I desired and needed from my creative outlet.
Last week, I listened to the story “Missing A Father I Hardly Knew” by Bruce Eric Kaplan, read aloud by Willem DaFoe on the Modern Love podcast by WBUR. In the story, the son describes how he would talk to his father every week, but they wouldn’t actually talk about anything. That really stuck with me. I want to make sure my content says something that connects to whomever stumbles upon it. I am not trying to hate on my own writing. I know I’ve created a lot of great content over the past year+ of writing LivingNimbly, but I really want to push myself when it comes to reflecting, esp. in the writing process.
Why now? I’ve recently started going to Thursday SuccessfWhole Conversations events hosted by the amazing Alex Stalberger, a local Holistic Wellness and Lifestyle Coach. I’ve gotten to know Alex over the past year or so online and at networking events, and she has just started to host the events for local influencers. We chat about a bunch of different topics including success culture in the twin cities, creating authentic content, etc. etc. (check out Cynthia Kim’s post about the group here). Near the end of our first meeting, we were talking about how we can support ourselves and each-other. In order to support myself, I know that I need to take more time for introspection, reflection, etc., To do so, I am pivoting back to my original intentions behind LivingNimbly.
Now a brief PSA from my inner naysayer for this goal. I struggle with is how much of myself to put out there online. This is definitely something that I have a tough time with as a blogger. Authenticity v. privacy. This is a conversation that I want to have (with myself and others). How do I stay happy about my end product and feel comfortable with putting myself out there? As a blogger telling personal stories, opinions, and anecdotes, what is too much at the end of the day? This is also something to consider as my personal life is intrinsicly tied to my professional life. Interesting right? Lots to consider…
In summation, I am going to be working harder on really digging into my experiences on this blog, taking the TIME and ENERGY required to process the things that occur in my daily life. I’m gonna lean into the whole “lifestyle blogger” thing with a heavier focus on storytelling and writing about my… lifestyle…? Well, we’ll play it by ear and see how it shapes out over the next couple of months.
Food content will not disappear. I am sure that you will continue to see my photos of pastries, coffee, and lentil soup, esp. on instagram, and even as imagery to go along with blog posts. But more original recipes… probably not…
First change is actually happening to my WordPress theme. For the past couple of months, I have been using a WordPress Theme called Kale. Wonderful theme, super functional and easy to use, but definitely photography-focused as it was built for modern food bloggers. Also the text was so tiny. That can be great if you want photos to be the focal point, but with this shift towards text-focused posts, that needed to change. This week, I changed my theme to Ashe; which, I am totally loving. Super customizable with lots of room for me to showcase my photos, but a stronger emphasis on the writing… plus bigger font. There was probably a way for me to increase the font on my last theme, but I couldn’t figure it out (#DIYblogger).
Stay tuned for more blog posts. Things may not change much from a reader’s perspective, but they will change more when it comes to my process, and what I am getting out of them. xoxox


2 Comments
Alex Stalberger
Jack,
First of all THANK YOU. Yes, for the shout-out but mostly for your authenticity. You describe a very real fight between wanting to be transparent and the fear of what you’ll discover about yourself if you are. Because when you declare it, than you feel like you have to do something with it. Which can be incredible!!! And terrifying. I’m so proud of you. I think we just discovered another SuccessfWhole Conversation topic for our series!
KMK
Love the peak into the critical self reflection that has been brewing in your head over the past year. It is amazing to see how much thought goes into your content and where each piece fits into the broader architecture of LivingNimbly. Looking forward to the refocused approach and more amazing content – keep it up!