Leaf One: Becoming a Blogger

What is Fifty-two Leaves? Simply put, it is my New Year’s resolution, to experience a new leaf each week for an entire year. Why?  Well there are many different people, places, and things that have inspired me to foster a new kind of living. A few months back I began to re-evaluate my life and identify where the deep meaningful moments had occurred. I realized that when I took chances, reached out to someone new and embraced the present moment, I truly felt fulfilled. Unfortunately, my busy lifestyle and need for perfection limited my ability to experience those opportunities. It has always been easier to play it safe and stick to my routine.

 Around the same time I had this inner wake up call, I was introduced to an empowering book called The Gifts of Imperfection by Dr. Brené Brown. Utlimately, Dr. Brown changed my preception of life through her words. She provides a touching and inspiring story about being able to accept ourselves for who we are, including our imperfections, and to implement wholehearted living in our lives.  According to Dr. Brown, “Wholehearted living is about engaging in our lives from a place of worthiness. It means cultivating the courage, compassion, and connection to wake up in the morning and think, No matter what gets done and how much is left undone, I am enough”.  The book has inspired me to embrace and accept the parts of myself that I never have before as well as to live wholeheartedly.

At first, my goal was to take on a new leaf by trying to experience more of the world around me and working to breakfree of my need to "play it safe". As I thought more about what I wanted and the changes I planned to implement in my life, I realized that wholehearted living does not happen with one leaf, but requires a lifelong journey. Fifty-two leaves is a blog dedicated to the beginning of my journey. Each week is about trying something new, whether big or small, my hope is to break my daily routine and to do something that I wouldn’t typically do. 

 For my first leaf, I created this blog. I wanted to be able to share my experiences as well as gain inspiration from others. I have always been fascinated by bloggers and their stories, but have never had the courage to put my own experiences into words. Today is my first step to embracing a wholehearted life, so thank you for reading! I look forward sharing the many more leaves ahead!