An Experimental Vent for Creativity

As a studio art major in college, my primary goal after graduation was to set up a studio, work on my master's degree, and find myself a comfortable little niche in some cozy Midwestern town to settle into. Nearly five years later, I find myself married to a man who not only appreciates all of my artful quirkiness and scholarly ambitions but also shares my desire to find that aforementioned niche. The catch? He's in the Air Force, which as anyone familiar with military life will know means uprooting every several years (or months, in some cases) to move to a new state or country - not exactly conducive to putting down any serious roots to speak of. However, as I was raised with the constant reminders that 1. God has a sense of humor and 2. everything happens for a reason, I see re-assignments as opportunities to explore and expand my knowledge of the world in general in ways I most likely would never have been able to had I moved directly to the rural paradise I imagined as an undergraduate.

"Great," you might say, "but why on earth the blog?" As the daughter of a former English teacher, reading and writing have always been major parts of my life. For whatever reason, I glommed-on to the concept of journal-keeping with particular enthusiasm; I began keeping a diary when I was six-years-old and have continued recording my personal thoughts and experiences to this day. I also happened to marry into a VERY literary-minded family; with a mother-in-law and sister-in-law who are both published authors and a husband with an exceptionally creative story telling streak, inspiration for writing is not exactly difficult to come by.

As a matter of fact, the catalyst for finally starting a blog about life as an artist/traveler/military spouse came during a recent visit to my sister-in-law and her husband's home in North Carolina; we were discussing writing - blogs in particular - over a twenty-something-th cup of tea and the conversation went something like this: "So...why haven't you started a blog about life as a military wife yet?" "I don't know. I guess I just haven't gotten the ambition worked up yet. I even designed a page, but haven't written any posts yet." "Well, you should."

So here we are. I can't say how frequent my posts will be, or even what the particular topics will focus on...though given the fact I tend towards the more artistic side of things, I would imagine any blog writings will likely follow suit. Should be a fun ride...