The Irish Wyman

Prologue: I wrote this post in October of 2016. I laughed when I found it last week, digging through some old files and writings. I knew immediately that I wanted it to be my first post because couldn’t think of a better illustration of the long journey I am taking in pursuit of the life I want to live. I could be disappointed that I let some of these same worries hold me back for over three additional years since initially voicing these thoughts and starting this process, but I choose instead to feel proud today. Proud of my persistence, my vulnerability, and my dedication to my vision. My life looked a lot different when I wrote these words - I wasn't a wife or a mother yet, I hadn't taken the leap to leave my career to become an entrepreneur. And yet, the sentiments I wrote on that October night are strikingly true for me still today.

Welcome to my website, I hope to provide some insight, provoke some thought, or inject some laughter in your day. Check back often, I have more musings than I know what to do with. Thank you for coming along on this ride with me.

October 24, 2016:

It's been a long ride already to get to this point. I've been struggling with conceptualizing a blog for years, no exaggeration. The obstacle that holds me up, inevitably, is... where to start? My interests are wide and varied. I worry that my content will have no focus. I worry that no one will care. I worry that in writing I'll come across as someone I'm not. I worry that my words will be drowned out by weakness or irrelevance in a sea of voices.

I've spent years letting worry hold me back, from this endeavor and many others. I don't want to live my life that way any longer. So... I'm starting here.

I've always considered myself an open book with friends and family, but more recently (and upon much self-reflection), I've realized that my independence sometimes fabricates walls around me that I haven't always seen clearly. There are so many topics that I rarely discuss, even with my closest companions: politics, religion, body image, money, the meaning of friendship, satisfaction in career and life... the list goes on. These topics are sensitive, and I worry that my opinion may be an unpopular one. I worry that by making myself vulnerable in this way, people may categorize me, judge me, disagree with me, dislike me. I'm not sure at what point in my life I began to place heavier value on other people's perception of me than on being my authentic self, but I'm drawing a line in the sand now. I'm starting here.

I don't anticipate this blog to become a daily or even weekly routine in the near future, or maybe ever. Right now, it's purpose for me is as a forum to formulate, organize, and share my feelings on a variety of topics, as diverse, unpopular, boring, enlightening, wacky or revolutionary as they may be.

I'm just going to let it be.

I make a promise to myself today that I will not subject myself to the red tape of perfection, a self-induced pressure that has limited me and caused great anxiety in almost every area of my life. This is to be a joyful endeavor, and as is my intention with all of my work, I hope it will serve a source of good in the world in it's own small but powerful way.

So... I'm starting somewhere. I'm starting here. And I'm thrilled that you are joining me.

CJK