Words....

I am fond of words.  I like conversation, I love how words can help you "know" someone. I love books, articles, even a well versed text.  I especially love written words and that is generally why I write (or have written in the past.) I read recently that a writer writes because of unsaid words.  I am in a season of unsaid words and a season where the desire to write is strong; the time to write, not so much.

 

Words help me to know people and people seem to like to share their words with me. Sometimes, are these words  just an illusion they want me to see?  Yes, I have lived long enough to know some souls are gifted with just such a way with words.  Even as I see actions, I have often given more chances that I probably should have because of their words. I want to believe the words people use. It is a fault that I listen to words probably as much as I watch actions.  But....still, I want to believe in the words because I want to know people, understand them. 

Being Southern, I believe, gives me a particular love of the world that can be woven by words.  In the South we revere our story-tellers.  We value someone who can entertain us with their words as much as a good drink at a party, if not more. Why do you think there are so many amazing writers who hailed from Southern Roots?  Even those annoying relatives are tolerated, if not regaled, if they have the ability to leave us spell bound with stories of our past, present, and possibly our future.  Culturally, we are a region that loves words, and I am a product of that love.

Purses...

 

I haven't gone back through the last 18 years or so of blogging to determine how many posts I have written about purses but I am betting there is more than one or two!  Purses (pocketbook if you prefer... an interesting side note the term pocketbook is used almost exclusively in the Eastern U.S. and even then, primarily in the South!) are very personal.  Much like shoes, I think they can say so much about personality; even more than clothing or jewelry. 

It is near impossible to buy a purse for someone  (now I am not talking about a cute, little, cocktail number or statement purse but rather those bags we turn to everyday)  unless you have specifically been shown what/which purse they love.  I believe this to be almost exactly the same in the buying shoes.  These items are not just decoration they have to work with our bodies.  The handles/straps have to fit "us" and our lives or even season of life.  I remember the years of not really carrying a purse but throwing my wallet into a diaper bag.  Now, I often forgo the purse and drop my wallet, keys, sunglasses into my computer bag and head out. Just like a shoe has to fit your foot to work in your daily life, so does the size, shape, and yes, even whether it has pockets, snaps, or zippers in a purse matter.  I can look back at my purse styles over the years, and although I have "tried on" different styles, I tend to navigate back to a basic style and fit... much like my basic black pumps that live in my closet as a necessity not an option  

In purses I am not brand loyal or even a brand snob.  If I see a purse I like, regardless of brand, and it fits...I will carry it.  My current bag is a lovely, pink patent, Kate Spade that I have carried in Summers past.  It is still in great shape, fits, and I love the pop of color... not to mention since it isn't current season no one else has the same bag!  One holiday season I carried a bag which had been the giftbag for a set of lotions but was made of red faux fur, trimmed in white faux fur with big, fuzzy, white pom-poms!  It worked and it fit.  It was festive, got lots of compliments, and no one was the wiser it wasn't even a purse.  I once had a friend who made delightful cocktail purses from wooden cigar boxes.  There is probably a great post about cocktail purses somewhere, I just haven't gotten around to it.

All this to say, that bag you haul around everyday says a lot about you.  If it is recyclable tote from the grocery or a Hermes Kelly bag, you are sharing more than you may realize!  Your purse is an extension of that arm it hangs from!

Where Have the Bloggers Gone?

Where are the blogs? Have they died? Are they lost to podcasts and Instagram? And, most importantly, where have the bloggers gone? You know, the people we used to keep up with just like neighbors; the friends made online that just made life a bit more bearable. Oh, I am guilty of dropping the blogging ball myself. I am sure I had a hand in losing track of the wonderful souls that became part of my life online and even some who became IRL friends (and still are). 

When my divorce happened several years ago, I stopped writing. The words literally dried up. Not only did I stop writing but I know I stopped interacting in blogland. My attention span was so short and shallow that I moved to less deep forms of mindless entertainment, such as Instagram and Pinterest. My emotional place only allowed for so much and since the words were gone, scrolling through pretty pictures became my “social media”, even though there was very little social involved. Just a click of a heart and scroll away. It wasn’t like leaving a comment on something someone wrote or responding to the same. 

Somehow, well actually because my ex-husband literally hated my blogging and used it against me in court, I did stop writing even when the words came back other than a post here and there, but I lost my connection to the blogging community. And…somewhere, it seems, it disappeared. 

I work in communications, and by all my research it says blogging is long from having the coffin closed on its existence and its viability. But, when I look at links of those blogs I used to love to read, most haven’t been updated in years...literally…years! So, either everyone has created a new blog or become addicted to Pinterest and the Tik Toc or it is just me? 

If anyone out there reads this, drop a word or two in the comment section and let me know your thoughts as I would like to revive my blog, it truly was the best therapy! Let me know where you are. Let’s catch up like old friends because, with the time that has passed, I am sure we could share for months without breaking a stride.