When I started blogging in 2010 it was so I could get things out of my head and do some writing, something I had wanted to do all my life. Putting a blog out there was a great way to get into the discipline of writing regularly. It worked for quite a while until the inertia hit and my energy plummeted. Cue menopause, full time work, adult children, mother with alzheimer's, LIFE. Who knows what sapped my energy and whisked it away. All I know is that I barely had the energy to get through the week and the weekends were gone before I had a chance to do everything I wanted. So the blog lapsed. I rallied a few times over the last year but just barely.

When I went to Gimli in August to see family, my cousin Niki told me how much she loved reading my posts on my blog. I told her I hadn't done much this past year because I just didn't have the energy. Immediately she said, "Edith, don't you post anything unless you are up to it." She understood that lack of energy having experienced it herself.

But I knew I was missing something. I knew I was missing doing the very thing I most wanted to do - I want to write. I want to express myself. I want to combine my writing and photography and the blog is the perfect place for me to get creative, take a risk, put myself out there and do what I know long term is good for my soul. I have to make the time. I have to know that even when I don't feel like it, I have to push through and do it because when I complete that post, it lifts my spirits and my energy increases.

And Niki you helped me get back on the path. You gave me the encouragement I needed, letting me know that my writing is appreciated and at the same time you gave me permission to do what is right for me in any moment. What a relief to know that I have so many "supporters" out there who love what I create but most importantly LOVE me for who I am, not what I do.

These pictures are for you Niki - you were the sunshine that gave me the nourishment I needed to keep growing. Thank you :)