I Heart My Shoes*

Earlier this week a good friend of mine contacted me about starting a blog. She was looking for a way to explore some ideas she has, and felt that blogging could be a good creative outlet for them.

(Of course, I wholeheartedly agreed. Blogging = love.)

As we were covering the basics on which website to use, and how to set up the style and look of it, she inevitably asked me the question I think all writers have battled: “What should I call it?”

It got me thinking about my own blogging journey, and took me right back to the day in 2006 when this little blog was born. I vividly remember staring blankly at my computer screen, desperately trying to come up with something clever and witty to fill in Blogger’s “Blog Title” box that was sitting blank in front of me. After trying a billion different titles that didn’t feel right, I decided just to simplify my thinking and make my title about something I was passionate about.

Thus, I Heart My Shoes was born.

In that moment I became Shop Girl*–a 21 year old student in my third year of university, and shoes were (and are) a great passion in my life. I had no idea then that my lonely ramblings would become my creative outlet for nearly 6 years.

I feel like my writing has changed as time has passed and I’ve moved through different phases in my life. I definitely still love shoes, but I can’t say that I have the time to devote to my love for them that I once did. My collection has dwindled over the years, and as I no longer go out on the town like I once did, the places that I have to wear my fun shoes to has steadily declined.

So, I got to thinking: if I were to start my blog today, what would my name be? Would it still be I Heart My Shoes? Would I still be Shop Girl?

I know that my writing of late has drifted into the realm of “mommy-hood”. I didn’t mean to become a mom-blogger, but as I’m now in this phase of my life, it just seemed to be a natural progression.

But I don’t want that to be all that I am.

Seeing my friend begin her blogging journey brought up a longing to write that I haven’t felt in a long time. I suddenly felt like I needed to write–that annoying, wonderful urge that I just can’t ignore.

So, I’m hopeful. This past year has just been wild–the pregnancy, work and then the wee-bean changed my whole world (for the better), and instead of chronicling it, I let it distract me from writing.

Now that Ruby’s sleep schedule is working better and she is on a bit of a routine, I hope to schedule in some daily time for me. For this.

I finally realized how much I’ve missed it.

So. While I don’t know if I’d still end up with “I Heart My Shoes” if I started anew today, I know that deep down that part of me is still kicking around somewhere.

Maybe I just need to go shoe shopping to rediscover myself. :)