Hello Friends,

Belated Happy New Year to all of you. In my last post of 30th December 2022, I announced I was taking a blogging break to slow down, meditate more, and focus on a few small projects. 

As I prepare to return from my blogging break on 8th February 2023. I have achieved many small projects around the house, completed one of two courses I brought a year ago (I am on my way to completing the second by 8th Feb 2023), and, I was able to cross off a few online projects from my to-do list.   

What have I achieved online?

I updated my blog’s look and feel – that is, Colours and Fonts

Home Page – updated

Blog Page – Updated

About page – Updated

I decided to divide my Newsletter into two parts with different posting schedules. 

• I updated my Newsletter page on the blog, as well as Mailchimp. 
• I sent a Mailchimp survey out on the 9th Jan 2023 – asking those who are subscribed to let me know which newsletter they wanted, the Positivity, the Online Creative, or Both. Not everyone responded, so most will get both because that is what the Newsletter was before.
• I am in the process of drafting the Positivity Newsletter – to publish it at the end of Jan 2023 – you have time to subscribe if you are interested – it will come to your email inbox

YouTube

• I have decided to use YouTube as my Podcast, Audio Visual platform.
• Some of you who have been following me for some time know that I did try podcasting on Soundcloud.
• I personally love to listen whilst doing specific tasks (i.e. cleaning, driving, ironing, etc.), and Youtube is my go-to.
• I will be doing more YouTube/Podcasts in 2023, and some of them will appear on the blog, and some will remain on YouTube (please follow me on YouTube) 

Housekeeping of my blog:

I deleted many old posts – but I still have much more to delete and tidy up. I started blogging quite clueless, and I experimented a lot, and in those experiments, there are a few things lurking in my blog that need to be deleted.

I kept reading and commenting on your blogs as much as possible.

I took a break from almost all of my social media channels in terms of me creating content for them. I still haven’t figured out a social media publishing schedule.

I was meditating and reading more.   

Life has a way of happening.

It got busy with the passing away of a family friend – and it was totally out of the blue. No illness whatsoever. An utter shock – utter shock! I still can’t believe it. We have now lost a total of three people, two in the family who were ill and one friend who was fit and healthy.

On a personal note, we have our health issues and dealing with operations gone wrong. Life! Otherwise mum and I are good

Thoughts for 2023

One thing that seems to be clearer and clearer is that I cannot live the life I used to. I can’t plan the way I used to.  

I need to Be Flexible, accepting, adjusting, slow, balanced, and Create SPACE. Learn to dance the dance of life and squeeze in my Dreams and Goals as and when possible. But I can’t plan or work/produce to the level I did before. I hear the term ‘pivoting’ a lot these days. And that is where I find myself on a constant pivot, only partially able to make a fixed plan. On the 8th of February 2023, I will maybe discuss this a bit more – If I have more clarity.

This post was just a quickish Hello, to say I am preparing to come back to blogging, albeit slowly, and to give an update on some of the goings on in my life. See you on the 8th Feb 2023 with more of an update

How Was my Break?

Life is something, and it will do things that throw curve balls in the way. But, It is all about adjusting, accepting, and going with the flow. Or even understanding the flow, or the plan I want maybe isn’t the right one for me.

The time spent in silence, not blogging and just being, has given me clarity – though I am still unclear on how to take my blog forward. But I am clear on a lot of things. As ironic as that sounds. I have been able to appreciate how much I have learnt and grown through blogging, and all my experiments have really taught me a lot. And it was good I did what I did because I can stand back and say, okay, yes, I will carry that forward, no I won’t carry that forward.

The break has made me a bit stronger. And has made me realise I need to take breaks more often and review my life more frequently to pivot and adjust course. I thought I had accepted my life properly, but I realised I had not totally, and I was battling with that a bit. I touch on this a bit in the newsletter – I might go into details in future newsletters, or I might not – I still haven’t figured it out in my own head.

I am very happy I took the break and took time to tidy up my blog, do more on Youtube and do the courses I brought a year ago! Long overdue.

All in all, the break has been brilliant and much-needed. Though I almost said, no I won’t take a break. It was the best decision I took. Read this Post to find out more about my decision to take a break.

I will see you on the 8th Feb 2023 with more updates.

In the Meantime

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Thank you

Thank you for reading this far, and I hope that 2023 will be a good year for your and your family. And that I will be able to produce good and useful content for you in 2023. Thank you Love Bella

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