Happy Friday, Friends!
A few weeks ago when I was in Portland, I had the opportunity to be the closing keynote at the Indulge conference. This was the second year of Indulge, and I’m honored to have been asked to speak again.
This time around I spoke about remembering our “why”. When I started Dine & Dish10 years ago, why I started my blog was to connect with others. At that time I wanted an extra way to connect to my family who had moved far away. As the years went on, it was the readers of Dine & Dish who gave me my why. The connections I was making with you all gave my blog purpose and fulfilled me.
Through the years, my why got overshadowed by the “musts”. I got caught up in trying to grow my Facebook following – investing tons of time in that. Pinterest was something I’d spend hours a day on. The business strategy part of me took over the blog, and before I knew it, I wasn’t very happy. The reason for my unhappiness was that the more I focused on those things, the further and further I got from my “why” of connecting with others.
Don’t get me wrong… I’m thankful for Facebook and Pinterest. But, for the most part, people who click over from Pinterest don’t become long term readers, or people I connect with. Same with Facebook… yes, I’ve made connections on Facebook, but the majority of the people there seem to want a quick hit, and then move on.
People often ask why I do this newsletter in this format instead of doing a weekly blog post. The truth is, this newsletter goes back to my why in more ways than most blog posts do. I feel like I’m able to connect with you all on a more intimate, personal level this way through our email interactions. My snapchat Coffee Talks (join me… I’m dineanddish over there) are also a way I’ve connected with you all more than ever before. In addition, to connect back to my why, I’m starting a podcast in the near future. I can’t wait to connect with you all that way too!
So I may not be blogging much (don’t worry… I still will blog and share recipes, just not as often), but know that everything I’m making the choice to do has to connect back to my “why” or it’s getting tossed aside. It’s time to prioritize and get back to our connection. If you like connecting this way and think you have friends who would enjoy it as well, please feel free to forward this newsletter on. Word of mouth connections, friends of friends, are the very best kind!
Thanks so much for being here!
Now, let’s move on to things that made me happy this week!
This week I shared all of my Rock Your Happy newsletter opening images on the blog. I’ve had several people ask if they can print some for personal use or use as a Facebook cover. I’m totally cool with that. If you want a high resolution version of any of the images, send me an email and I’ll share it with you!
One of my favorite bloggers interviewed another one of my favorite bloggers. I love this interview and the recipe looks amazing too!
One of my most loved health and wellness bloggers has a free 14 day challenge upthat seems so awesome for anyone wanting to get healthy, the right way! She’s such a positive force, I know you’ll love it!
I love lists, movies and happiness…and this blog post has it all! I can’t believe I haven’t seen most of these films.
So inspiring….can you imagine doing this at 100?
Our lilac bush didn’t bloom this year (sadface), and the gorgeous pictures in this postreally make me wish they did!
Definitely making room in my schedule to listen to all of these.
Craving balance? Click here.
OK friends, that’s it for today! We have an incredibly free weekend, which is so rare this time of year! I plan on living it up and taking advantage of it with lots of readingand family time. Hit reply and let me know how you are doing and what’s making you happy!
