To blog or not to blog?

That was the question.

I've had a blog before, back in my limbo period between studenthood and motherhood, but let it lapse a few months into my daughter's ex-uterine life. I found myself using my blog as a private journal, so I figured leaving my musings unpublished might be wise. But journaling as an adult, much like when I was a teen, led to lists of complaints and morbid introspection which was neither healthy nor true to how I thought or felt when I wasn't sitting in front of an empty word doc.  So that lapsed too.

Two moves and another child later, I found myself musing about blogging again. I missed the discipline of writing something meatier than a Facebook post. I was spending an inordinate amount of time distilling my thoughts and experiences down into short and hopefully witty status updates, thinking, more often than not, that I had enough content for a great blog post or two.

The most poignant of these would-love-to-blog experiences was a walk I took this summer through my neighbourhood to a bakery aptly named "Bliss". Construction forced me to stray from my usual route, bringing, instead of the expected annoyance, a delightful surprise: my altered stroll took me past an array of sunflowers, hollyhocks, even a pumpkin-sized zucchini, smiling out from front yards as I passed by.  It totally made my day, not to mention giving my preschooler plenty to chat about from her spot in the double stroller. 

These unexpected treasures made me wish I'd planted something in my own front yard; not out of some spirit of competition, but for the potential of brightening someone's day. To bless as I had been blessed, just by passing by.

So here it is: my own little front yard garden. A project in cultivating joy. I make no promises as to style or content, other than a theme of things that made me happy. Like, say, chocolate. Or sunflowers.

I'll try not to write too much, or too often. I have hopes that I'll get loads of housework done while procrastinating from blogging, but it may very well work the other way around. And that could get hazardous to my health. ;)

Hope you enjoy!