I've been alive for almost twenty-eight years. That's over a quarter of a century. It's too young to have a mid-life crisis but too old to have absolutely no idea what you're doing with your life and where it's going. Is a quarter-life crisis a thing? Because, if it is, I'm definitely experiencing one.

You might be wondering why I'm starting my blog this way. Isn't it a little too personal for a debut post? Aren't all bloggers supposed to be about positivity and happiness? Life is not something that I have perfected, and this blog is going to be all about a journey towards goals, dreams, and self-discovery. So I guess you could say this blog is about positivity... sort of.

I started blogging about five years ago. My first blog, Born in August, started out as a beauty blog. I would snatch up the latest cosmetics and skincare products just so I could review them. Many of them were stashed away soon after, never to be used again. And even though I wasn't a fashion blogger, I had the same problem with clothes... And books and jewelry and little odds and ends that I found along the way. 

Stuff was supposed to make me happy, but I still wasn't happy. 

After I graduated from college in 2015, I started an entirely new career that had very little to do with my degree. I was a freelancer and an entrepreneur. I was pushed into situations that scared me and I started to grow. There were still setbacks – there are still setbacks – but I started to learn about what truly made me happy and what I wanted out of life. I started to practice a bit of mindfulness here and there which led to adopting a more minimalist mindset. A more minimalist mindset gave way to a zero-waste lifestyle... or, at least, the beginnings of one. I started to realize which activities left me feeling fulfilled and which left me feeling empty.

Beauty blogging left me feeling empty, stressed and anxious.

So, I told myself, it was time to leave it behind.

I stopped writing for Born in August earlier this year, after unsuccessfully trying to change the direction of the blog itself. I spent a couple of months wondering if perhaps I wanted to stop blogging altogether. Once I realized that blogging was something I truly enjoyed and wanted to continue, I had to press the reset button and figure out how to start again.

Which platform did I want to use? What would I name a new blog? What did I even have to say?

Lately, I've been exploring my spirituality, so I left these questions in the hands of God and the Universal Power. Yesterday, it hit me. The platform didn't matter and I definitely had things I wanted to say... And I was going to call it Growth & Gratitude. I want to grow into who I am meant to be, but I am grateful for where I am now as well as where I am going. 

I'm not perfect and this blog won't be either. But I hope that, if you're reading this, you will join me on this journey and become a part of my community of supporting and encouraging individuals all striving to be better and be ourselves.