As an only child with an active imagination, I had an imaginary friend growing up. Her name was Similar. If you asked me why her name was Similar, it was because she was similar to me. I wanted connection with someone who shared all the things that I liked, so I invented her. Similar is still the best friend I ever had!
People tend to form friendships or relationships with others who share their interests, or who at least encourage and show support for their interests. Creating attachments with people is not something that comes easily to me, and I would say that I spend most of my life alone but not lonely. It helps that I am an introvert and that most of the things I am passionate about- art, writing, journaling, reading, beauty, fashion, shopping, baking, gardening- are all activities that I can enjoy on my own.
I’ve learned to live my life silently. I create art because it fulfills something for me personally. I journal because I enjoy documenting my life. I write short stories to get them out of my head and onto paper. I do my hair and makeup and put on jewelry because dressing up is fun. I try to grow pretty flowers in my yard just for the sake of making something beautiful. I do get fulfillment out of doing activities just because I enjoy them, but I would also like to share them. Hence this blog and social media.
One of my biggest motivations for being online is that I don’t see a lot of people like me here. I see a lot of 20 somethings living in apartments in the city. A lot of moms and wives running after their kids and meal planning dinners for the week. A lot of minimalists with capsule wardrobes. A lot of aesthetic content interspersed with tropical vacations, expensive homes, and the message to romanticize your life. My life experience as a single professional woman and my personal perspectives are a little bit different than the norm, and I want to make the type of content that I see as lacking.
Things you should know about me: My name is Marissa. I am single, childless by choice, and work in academia. I’m about to turn 40 and am at an interesting point in my life. My 20s and 30s were a huge struggle (undergrad, graduate school, broke and barely getting by, dealing with negative people in my life, trying to find my place professionally), and suddenly… I find myself pretty stable. Stability is an odd feeling after a lifetime of uncertainty. It’s strange when your brain doesn’t have to worry about figuring out life professionally and financially anymore. All of a sudden I have the time and mental energy to think about being happy- about making my life more than just getting by. It has been a new mindset thinking about how I can work on my life and make it great. Traveling, enjoying hobbies, continuing to advance in my career, remodeling my house… a lot of things feel possible right now. It’s a new feeling and one that I am still trying to wrap my head around.
It’s taken me a long time to start creating content. In the past I made a start, but then someone close to me suggested that it was vain to think anyone would really care about my life or my opinions. They implied that maybe I didn’t have enough tech skills to learn to blog or make videos or edit photos. They pointed out that my life wasn’t particularly interesting and that maybe I should have my life more together or have more expert opinions if I wanted to post things online. I let myself be deterred, so I went back to living my life silently.
I’m not going to be so easily deterred this time and there is no longer someone else’s negative voice whispering in my ear. It’s not vain to think that my interest or enthusiasm for something couldn’t be shared by someone else. My life can be both a work in progress and good enough just as it is right now, and I shouldn’t be afraid to share it. I don’t have to be an expert to voice an opinion or share an experience. Even if no one else cares, blogging can be a personal hobby and social media can be a means for me to document my life. Mostly, I want to try and see what happens.
The title of this blog is mybestlifediary.com because I am consciously trying to live my best life. After just struggling to get by for so long, I can finally aim for more than that and actively focus on the things that make me happy and improve my life.
So, if you stumbled across me online, I hope you will connect and come back. All my social media info is below. Let’s be online friends. I’ll share what I’m up to and what I’m currently interested in, and you can share your good ideas for how we can all live our best lives!
Hopefully,
Marissa
PS. My social media accounts are a work in progress, but I hope to start posting regularly on instagram. I’ve also considered posting on lemon8 because I personally like the app, but I don’t know if anyone else is on it. Let me know if you are!
Find out what I’m up to on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/my.best.life.diary/
Find my reading updates on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/mybestreadinglife/
