Have you ever written an "About Me" paragraph?
I have. You should try it. I think it's a good exercise for everyone.
Friday was my blog day. Summer seems to get so busy that I never do what I actually want to do. Can you relate? At times like that, it is important to schedule slots of what you need to do or truly want to do, so I prioritized and spent most of the day on my blog. I finally wrote out the ideas that I have saved in notes on my phone (color coded), thought of extra ideas, and then read up on how to make a prosperous blog.
Taking notes, I wrote down a few tips (I'm trying them here), then brainstormed. Lastly, I decided to take a look at my website. The overarching pink theme is arguable the best aspect, I added a social media page (check it out), and then I decided to change my "About" section.
Leaving most of the blog's background information, I got to thinking that people needed to know me more when they visit the site. To fix this, I added an "About the Person Behind the Blog" section to my page.
All of this to say, writing about yourself proposes a challenge. It's easy to write from a prompt, easier to write about someone else, fairly unchallenging to write about personal experiences, but extremely difficult to write about oneself. Why?
As humans, we don't like to reflect. We avoid reflection because it can bring us to an uncomfortable place to be: honest with ourselves. But an even more uncomfortable place to be is the aftermath of when we avoid reflection, keep going with the business of life, and don't have time to face our own problems. When we don't take time and reflect on ourselves, we can ignore the fact that we haven't read in weeks, haven't touched our goals, do exactly what we said we would never do, aren't who we planned on being, or even who we want to be. Maybe you don't reflect because you don't truly know yourself enough to even find the areas that need work, or maybe you don't know yourself at all.
My newly added paragraph originally started with "Hi! I'm Evelyn Achatz." How boring. Backspacing, I just sat there. What is an intriguing opener that would propel someone to read this? What do I want to share? How do I describe myself, while letting a reader into my life with four sentences?
Finally, my thoughts settled on some of my highlights. Morning reading is my favorite time in life, so I had to mention that. Next, I share the secret recipe to how my best ideas come-because this blog was one of them. I was going to write that I run for fun, but that would have been a complete lie so I told you my alternatives. Finally though, I dug a little deeper for the ending and thought about the past year and what I've done. I settled on these reflections: blogging, blonding, and breathing.
Reflection 1: Blogging. I was afraid to start because I knew it wouldn't be perfect. I didn't have all of the answers, that made launching a blog daunting. Sometimes it is hard to face yourself, that made it even worse. But I'm so glad I did.
What I've learned: To make a difference bigger than yourself, you have to be vulnerable & when you're a beginner, you don't need to be perfect.
Reflection 2: Blonding. This word is definitely made up to describe my state of being a blonde and not a brunette.
What I've learned: Change is good. Try something new.
Reflection 3: Breathing. From overanalyzing, to overbooking, I very rarely breath. When I'm not physically busy, I'm busy overthinking and causing myself anxiety. But as I moved forward throughout this year, God has taught me that I need to breath.
What I've learned: Life will be okay if you don't overthink, don't sweat the small stuff, slow down as life speeds up, and refreshment comes in breathing.
I'm just being honest with you, writing about myself challenged me. I came face to face with the realization that I need to know myself more, we all do. To grow, we have to reflect.
My challenge to you: write an about me paragraph. Reflect on who you are now, how you've changed this year, and who you want to be. Sum it up like I did. Then remember to set aside time and reflect every now and then. Try a few new things, start a blog, go blonde, or even breath ;) You never know where it will take you. Get to know yourself.
Grace and Peace,
Evelyn
I love you how shared that most people don’t like to reflect and how important it is to do but not easy .It can be very hard to take a honest inventory of one’s self. But any business that does not take a regular inventory of its liabilities and assets goes broke. So much wisdom you pack in these blogs. Thank you for sharing.