You are probably asking "Why did you need a sabbatical from a simple Chicken Lady life? Well, because it wasn't always so 'simple', and I needed to sort out some things within myself. I originally created this blog to share my journey getting back into chickens, back to country life and living more nature, after being away from that lifestyle for most of my adult life. But after a while I began to feel that I was boxed in to just blogging about my chickens, gardening, and my living green experiments. I didn't feel that I could share more about the personal side of 'me' in this journey. I had so much more I wanted to share and express but felt my readers that came here because they were interested in chickens wouldn't be interested in the other aspects of my life. This left me feeling that I was being two people -the chicken lady AND the middle aged woman struggling with being middle aged, finding my way career wise or retirement wise, surviving in this hostile political time, and finding place within all of this. I didn't feel like I was being my true self in only sharing one aspect of myself with you, so I took a break to sort this all out.
During my break, I considered starting a new blog where I would blog about the other 2/3's of my life, but that just felt inauthentic. So I did what a deer does when faced with headlights of an on coming car...I stood there doing nothing, waiting for the car to hit me. Fortunately for me the metaphorical car went around me. Leaving me just standing there still confused as to what to do next, which direction do I go? So just like that deer, I wondered off into the woods and pondered my decisions. I doubt that's what the deer really do when they are barely missed by a speeding vehicle, but I would like to think that they at least learn something from the event and stay off the road in the future.
For me the time away gave me some clarity. I began to realize that to be my true self I had to be willing to take a chance that my readers wanted to know ME, not just the Chicken Lady part of me. So after much thought, consideration, and soul searching, I am back! I loved this blog so much. I loved interacting with my readers, and reading your blogs. I just hope my readers are still around somewhere willing to give me another shot at this. I have decided that I am not going to box myself in to just talking chicken (which I do love to do) because there is so much more to me than just that. This was suppose to be about sharing my journey... chickens were just the springboard to that journey. You can now look forward to me sharing my thoughts on other subjects, my opinions, and my personal feelings about things other than just chickens. But don't worry, I will have lots to say about chickens!
Thank you for coming back and understanding that I just needed some time to figure out what direction I wanted (needed) to go in. I hope you are willing to get to know the true me and take this journey with me fully!
Keeper of 1 husband, 2 grandkids, 3 dogs,
3 cats, and 17 Chickens!
3 cats, and 17 Chickens!
Did this post stir something inside of you? Leave me a comment, I would love to know what you're thinking!!!
