Category: Currently

The content of this post was originally sent out in July’s Email Newsletter.

Dear friend,

Just for a change, I don’t want to ask “where did half of the year go?” because, well, everyone already asked that, and in retrospect, I do know where mine went.

For me, the first half of 2019 went into mothering and homeschooling kids through the end of their preschool years, finding healing, soaking up new books, getting to know myself in a whole new way, writing things (including ones that won’t see the light of day), and dreaming up new dreams.

In many ways, July feels like the first page of a new chapter, for my family, for me, and (woot, woot!) for this blog!

But can I be really honest for a moment?

The other day I chanced upon Kryz Uy‘s 10-year blog anniversary and as I virtually applauded her work (with a double-tap and a click to her blog, because that’s how we applaud fellow bloggers these days right? Lol), I had a fleeting moment of despair.

I thought, “oh wow, we were both blogging for over 10 years; why does it look like she achieved more than I have?”  —How’s that for exclusive, email-only content? :) (Ed: Well, well, well, it’s out here on the blog too!)

Almost immediately I laughed at how easy it is to fall into the comparison game. The struggle is real.

But can I just also say that Kryz Uy is awesome?? It’s bloggers like her that remind us that consistency and dedication is the key to making things happen. That, yes, blogging is not dead, and yes, we should all celebrate how our generation has been given this unique opportunity to chase and live our dreams in a way that wasn’t possible a decade ago.

As for me, I had to remind myself that my journey is singularly mine and therefore incomparable.

I am very proud of this space that I happened to create around my passions while keeping a corporate job for the most part, and grateful for all the things God added into my life because of it all.

In hindsight, even as Chasing Dreams turns 10 years old this year, it still feels like we’ve only just begun around here! Yep, just warming up!

Over the past few weeks, I updated the blog with some 10-year milestone posts. Have you read them yet? :)

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The Best of Chasing Dreams
A Lookback at the Past 10 Years Blogging

I did a little (okay, not-so-little) trip down memory lane and listed some of the blog’s highlights and milestones from the past 10 years (which are easily some of the highlights of my life too.)

READ HERE

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Chasing Dreams, Year 10
Redefining What it Means to Chase Your Dreams

What does it mean to “chase your dreams” even? Here I revisited and redefined what chasing dreams truly means, the good and the ugly.
READ HERE

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So before I end this, I want to challenge you to think about that BIG AUDACIOUS DREAM that God keeps putting in your heart.

You may be setting this dream aside for later, or maybe you’ve forgotten about it already as you focus on more pressing things like, I don’t know, bills and family and life.

I was so sure it was the end of Chasing Dreams! I was ready to walk out of it, let it expire, and move on to the next, you know, dream. And yet the purpose and the potential of this space keeps me feeling restless and sleepless that I just had to shift gears and decided to keep going and trying.

And now I’m almost certain that years from now, I’d be glad I didn’t quit.

I challenge you, us, to keep praying for that dream and to keep holding on to it. There’s a reason why you can’t seem to shrug it off! And if I could just make you stop for a minute to linger on these thoughts or maybe nudge you to take that small step into chasing that dream, then my work here is done.

I want you to know that God placed those dreams in your heart for a purpose! And whether or not you see those dreams happening in this lifetime, I know God is already changing you and making you the person He needs you to be just by being brave enough to dream that it can happen. :)

Here’s to chasing old and new dreams, for His glory!

Always for His glory.

Love,
Riz

Photo by the great Sheila Catilo. Thank you, Sheilabeybz!

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The content of this post was included in our June Newsletter. Sign up below to receive exclusive content, stories, and occasional love letters.. from one dream chaser to another. ;)

Content of this post was originally sent out as June’s Email Newsletter.

First of all, thank you, thank you. For sticking around through all of these relaunches and hiatuses and sporadic love letters of the past 10 years.

I know some of you stumbled upon Chasing Dreams just recently, but a handful of you have been around since 2009 when this “chase of dreams” began. (You know who you are, hello!)

Which also means some of you have seen me through all of that juvenile drama (dying here) and all the things Chasing Dreams transitioned in and out of over the past 10 years.

Beyond these blog pages, I send out email newsletters to online friends I made through this blog. I honestly didn’t think anyone would still want to receive emails from me anymore (given my delinquency *cough*) and yet, on this 10th year, you’re still here.

So thank you, from the tip of my fingers to the bottom of my heart, for being here for it all. And for being just one of the reasons why I keep coming back to this space.

Let’s just call this a “soft launch”

Two weeks ago I quietly relaunched Chasing Dreams. No fanfare, no virtual confetti, I didn’t even promote it on my social media pages yet. I didn’t want to promote any of my new posts because I wanted my email subscribers to be the first ones to see it.

It’s just that, even if we don’t know each other that much, I feel like we’ve been through this quiet journey of sorts. I don’t know if you feel the same way but I sure do feel like you’ve been part of mine.

Which is why, even though I know I don’t need to explain myself, it matters to me to let you guys know what’s going on behind the scenes of my highlight reel. You have to know, because the #bts is an important part of any story, and I owe it to you who’ve followed my dream-chasing for so long.

On the topic of mental health and anxiety

In one of my new posts, I shared about my ongoing internal battle with “blogging anxiety“. It’s not a real term (at least, not yet!) but I’m pertaining to those big, overwhelming, life-sucking fears that kept me from creating content these past 2 years.

It dawned on me that I wasn’t just feeling uninspired or having a bad case of writer’s block. I was, in fact, having deep-seated fears that I didn’t realize was draining my creativity. And this was something that a new blog design or a new strategy could not fix.

On top of that, I also stopped feeling confident blogging (basically posting anything on social media) about motherhood-related topics that matter to me. There’s just too much judgment online and offline these days and I came to a point where I didn’t have the energy anymore to explain the choices we make for our kids.

And well, that’s a problem right there. Because you know that Dawn and Rain content are the only things in my editorial calendar for so long. (Come on, I know you’re here for Dawn and Rain. Same here! Lol). And because I stopped feeling safe about sharing our journey raising them, I suddenly find myself without any material to work on.

Behind the scenes of my highlight reel

After being quiet for so long, my June newsletter and blog content was about how I navigated through my own creative anxiety and how I’m overcoming them.

I’m still a work in progress, but progress there is!

And here I am now, ready to share these stories that are happening behind the highlight reel.

If you’re ready to dive deep, and if you haven’t read them yet, here are some of the new content and some podcast recommendations that you might find useful for your own personal and creative journey.

Motherhood in the time of Digital

My thoughts on being a mother in the time of digital, plus my experience taking part in the Baby Dove #RealMoms campaign.

READ HERE

Coming to Terms with my Fears Blogging

If you’re a blogger or a creative, you might find this one relatable.

READ HERE

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The content of this post was included in our June Newsletter. Sign up below to receive exclusive content, stories, and occasional love letters.. from one dream chaser to another. ;)

Sometimes I wonder when I would get out of this perpetual state of busy. I am working on it, and I am fully aware how ironic it is that I’ve been working so hard so that I won’t have to be working so hard, you know what I’m saying?

But that’s just the way it is around here these days and I’ve been learning so much about embracing each season for what it is. And right now for me, is a long season of hustle.

This new job

Five months ago I accidentally landed this remote job and I haven’t talked about it until now because I’m still processing how I feel about this whole thing. Once again the blog projects were pushed down the list (but never neglected!) as this new job takes over the top of the daily to-dos.

That being said, there are many things I wish I could change about my work life at the moment but one thing I’ll always be grateful for is how I can do all of this at home. That homeschool carries on per usual. That we don’t have to deal with traffic daily nor long hours away from the little humans.

But most of all, that God is even more real and gracious and faithful in this particularly challenging season.

6 years old

Two weeks ago Dawn and Rain turned 6 years old and once again we marvel at how slow the days seem and yet how fast the years are flying by. We decorated the house with balloons and buntings and unicorns the morning of their birthday and had a little surprise party with a few of their cousins the weekend after.

Rain kept saying that it was the “best birthday party ever”, and Dawn cried the day we took the party decors down. (And that kind of sums up their opposite personalities!) We told Dawn we needed to clear out space so we could put the Christmas decors up next, and that did the trick. So now we have Christmas decors at home as early as the first week of November!

We captured lots of photographs from their birthday week, and I haven’t sifted through them yet. (Story of my life.)

Through the years I’ve become very forgiving of myself for not being able to document moments and sort out photographs as fast and as consistent as I used to do, but after our recent incident losing years worth of digital files, I know I really have to pay more attention to memory keeping. (And so should YOU!)

Blogging like the olden days

So as you noticed I revived this old blog category “Currently” for when I just want to talk about random updates (sometimes small things, sometimes major ones) here on the blog. You know, just like when we shared random stories and talked about random topics on our blogs in the olden days? :)

The internet is bursting with so much content about how blogging should be done, but even as I myself apply and teach the best practices, I also strongly believe that there’s room in the web (and even a need!!) for bloggers like us who just want to tell stories, knowing the stories we tell will make an impact, maybe to the world, maybe to one person, it doesn’t matter.

I launched The Purpose Blog two months ago and I’ve been slowly but surely filling it up with content about slow, purpose-driven blogging. “Learning the rules like a pro and breaking them like an artist” is what The Purpose Blog is about, and if that’s your jam, I invite you to visit (and subscribe!) to The Purpose Blog. I’ll see you there. ;)

Meanwhile, this dreamer right here is still chasin’, except slowly, carefully, thoughtfully. Thank you for sticking around to hear all about it.