Five years ago, I wrote my first blog post, having no idea where it would lead me or how it would change my life.

I started blogging to prove to myself that I could follow through with something that mattered to me. So I committed to showing up and writing something/anything every single day for 30 days. I planned on sharing prompts from our Soulful Journals and expanding on them, but my soul quickly stepped in, and my posts became a dialogue between the two of us.

This was a first for me. I had journaled before. But to be honest, my journals were more about how I was feeling and about what was going wrong in my life. And I had heard my soul’s whispers before and knew that we all had an inner voice – a higher wisdom within. But I had never combined writing with these whispers – I had never given my soul the floor, so to speak, and sat back while it took over and enveloped me in its wisdom.

I soon realized that my soul had a lot to say (and still has a lot to say). And what it shared through my posts, while I did my best to translate, made so much sense to me and felt so healing for me and also seemed to be helping others as well. The more I listened to this voice and made changes accordingly, the better I felt. So I kept going – feeling excited about what was to come.

When I started this blog, my life was completely different than it is now. I was running a gift business – working around the clock making products by the thousands and shipping them to stores across the country. My days consisted of wrapping wire, gluing journals, and decorating candles. Over and over and over again. While I was grateful to be working with my sweetie and being my own boss, I didn’t feel fulfilled, and I knew that this couldn’t be it – there had to be more to life than this.

And there was. So much more. This blog has shown me that. It was the jumping-off point for me to leap into all of my dreams – dreams that I had only imagined for myself before, such as being a full-time writer and living at the beach and living a life that’s filled with complete freedom, creativity, and peace.

I’ve learned so much about business and life and people and myself over the past five years. Some of the lessons came more easily than others, but they all make up who I have become today.

Because of this blog, I have learned to open up to my soul, to the universe, and to others. And I’ve also learned to set boundaries and take care of myself and to figure out what happiness meant to me and then give myself permission to cultivate a life that nurtured that. And I’m so grateful.

I firmly believe that had I not allowed my blog to change and grow as I changed and grew, I wouldn’t still be here writing it today. Part of being human means that we get to change our beliefs as we expand into a different level of consciousness. When I first started writing, I hadn’t yet experienced so much of what has happened to me since then, so it would’ve been impossible for me to write about it. I wouldn’t have had words. So I wrote what I knew at the time, which means when I go back now and reread some of these old posts, I don’t always agree with myself. And sometimes I even want to edit them from my current perspective. But I don’t because I trust that each post was written in the way it was meant to be written and will be found by the person who needs to read it exactly how it was written. The universe is wonderful like that.

Something else that’s changed over the years is that I’m much more relaxed with my blog than I used to be. When I first started, I wrote every single day for about six months. I put so much pressure on myself to keep up. Pressure that was completely unnecessary and honestly not welcome by the readers since it was a lot for them to keep up with, too! I now allow myself to post when it feels right – not when I think I should. (This has been a hard one for me, to be completely honest.) So that means that my posts have become more infrequent, but I am much happier because my life is more balanced and I’m writing from an inspired space rather than a resentful space, and hopefully that can be felt.

I also have eased up with how my blog is set up and how I market it. In the beginning, I studied blogging diligently and learned exactly what I was supposed to do and how I was supposed to do it and when I was supposed to do it. And I tried many of these tips out and really wanted to love them all since I had always been a good student and didn’t want to not do something the way it was supposed to be done. But what I quickly realized was that in order for me to continue this blog, I had to do it in my own way. And that frequently meant going against the grain of what a successful blogger was supposed to do. I kept what felt right and threw away the rest, and I’m so glad about that. My soul rejoices in that because it allows us both complete freedom and authenticity to share how and when we’re inspired to.

Soul Speak has been such a sacred space for me from the start. It’s been my home away from home. I trust that it will continue to evolve through the coming years, and as long as it still feels like home for me, I’ll continue showing up here and sharing directly from my soul to yours.

I have received so many loving emails and comments through the years because of this blog, which makes my heart beyond happy. I have made so many amazing friends through the years because of this blog. I love that so much. Thank you to each of you who have offered support here along the way. My life has changed immensely thanks to so many of you showing up and reading what I write day after day – month after month – year after year, and I am so grateful. You’ve helped me create this life that I love so much, and it’s my hope that my words have been able to help you in some way as well.

I’m celebrating this milestone with each of you.

Hugs,