My New Life, A New Expression

It all started last summer. It started because, well, I've always been addicted to magazines so when I moved to Asheville and began to decorate our new apartment I wanted to use my free time on some side projects so I bought a lot of magazines for inspiration, in one of them I read about some of my favorite pattern designers, Amy Butler and Heather Bailey, I saw their websites in a magazine and I searched for them on the internet. When I saw their blogs for the first time I just thought Wow! It was definitely a new world for me. I saw their designs, their shops, their blogs and all the beautiful things they shared on them, I loved the connection they had with their fans and all of that opened my eyes to a new creative and spontaneous world, it was different and I liked it.That same day I told Jordan, my husband, I want to start a blog. Jordan helped me and showed me how to post and customize the web page a little bit. I think that if Jordan had not helped me that day, I wouldn't have had any idea how to get started, blogging was something new, I had not followed or seen one ever before.That night I sat down to write, I took some pictures of my doggie Kyra and talked about our afternoon at the park. I felt a little sad when I was told later, you shouldn't talk just about you, no one knows who you are, you have to talk about interesting topics, hobbies, something that someone else would like. At that point I was more confused than excited.The next day I wrote about one of my passions, crafts, and my first post was Crafts and Design. This went on for many months, I posted about different topics without any real plan. Then I started looking more on the internet and I found blogs that I love with topics I found interesting. Thats when I began to get a better idea, I opened my shop and with the blog I called them Live Colorful and it all started to make sense. I love color so I thought, I will focus on colors and design, share creative ideas, talk about parties and decorating and some of my other passions and my work.I changed the look of my blog many times, it has been an ongoing process which I've tried to find my style and my voice, I would be lying if I didn't tell you that every day I find something new I want to change, it is a daily process. I think that all those changes of the appearance of my blog and how I started to use social media hurt my blog a little, it was confusing for a lot of my followers, but that was something I discovered over time too.This year I have found so many talented people, their work, their way of expression but best of all, their life experiences where I have discovered that I am not the only one with questions and failures. The blogging community is really comforting.When I moved I felt alone and somehow I feel that having a space that was mine, where I could talk about what I like and find people who feel the same way made me feel connected with the world. This great experience has been one of the most important reasons why I have wanted to keep going, my blog fills me inspiration, makes me happy and has shown me a community of talented people who have so much to offer. Every day I am still looking and every day I am still finding new and interesting things that motivate and inspire me.I would love to hear about your experiences. How did you start? What has motivated you to continue, grow and flourish?