Hello, dear reader (ugh, not sure that’s a phrase I want to use long term, but for now it will suffice). I know that I have an about me page and so this post may seem somewhat redundant, but I didn’t know how else to start the blog. To launch straight into a post about *something* with no context as to who I am and what I’m doing here didn’t seem right.
Who am I? (Even writing that sentence made my brain launch into Kirsten Dunst’s dream sequence at the start of Bring It On).
I considered attempting to maintain anonymity but the more I thought about this and the possibility of linking different social media accounts and wanting to share photos and the like, complete anonymity doesn’t seem feasible.
I’m Kate. Miss Kate to my family, always have been. At the time of writing this I’m 35, I’m married (got that wedding in at the end of 2019 just before the bushfires and COVID19 kicked off), I live in regional Victoria Australia, I work full time (well, technically I’m on a break right now but more about that later), I have 2 beautiful dogs (and recently farewelled my best girl of 14 years), I’m an Aunty, I started 2021 with weight loss surgery, I like to read, I watch too much TV, 2020 reignited my love of jigsaws, I’m an introvert with anxiety and major depression (I ended 2021 with a breakdown – but more on that later, too, I guess), and I don’t really know much else about myself.
In case you missed it up there under the heading, I consider myself a bit of a late bloomer.
I had a fairly sheltered upbringing, I grew up in a conservative, religious family in a small town, spending my early years in Gippsland. The family moved to the outer suburbs of Melbourne when I was 13. I never had a lot of friends in school, but got by with a handful, and despite being an easy target was fortunate to escape severe bullying. I wasn’t allowed to spend time with them outside of school, though, so in a lot of ways these relationships were largely superficial. I didn’t play sports. My social life was restricted to those who shared the same belief system and values as my parents and extended family. I went to university, but I went to classes and came home. I didn’t really engage there either.
In my late 20s, I found it within myself to become a little selfish and start living my life. I’m going to say it, you know I’m going to say it, I started to blossom. No wait, bloom. I started to bloom. I got my own place, I established a couple of friendships, I found different work, I started to date, I met my now husband and it felt good. It felt right.
And now it’s time to figure myself out that little bit more, to become the well rounded human being that I want to. And that’s where this blog comes in. First of all, I’ve always loved writing. As a kid, being a writer of some description was my main aspiration, so here’s me shooting my shot (and now I’ve got Lizzo in my head). Secondly, I’m planning on sharing my adventures in determining my hobbies (including my rediscovered love of reading), my sense of style, trying new things, organising my life and anything else that comes to mind. Hopefully over time my photography skills will improve, and maybe if I get brave enough I’ll find myself in front of the camera filming youtube videos. Who knows? The world is quite literally my oyster at this point. I think I need to work on the cliches…
My initial goal is to post once or twice per week. It seems do-able at the moment. I’m going to try for daily or every other day over on the gram. Over time I hope to post a bit more often, but right now I just want to get started.
I hope you’re happy to join me on this quest to continue discovering who I am. If you have any great ideas of things I should try or experience, please feel free to make suggestions (if I can figure out how to make a form for you to fill out I’ll do that, otherwise my email address is over in a sidebar somewhere). How do I know what I like if I don’t give it a shot?
Oh, and because some people are visual, here is a badly edited photo of me…
