reflecting and evolving this space

Last month, I signed up for a workshop with the amazing Gwen Bell (of REVERB#10-fame and every other echelon of the Internet) to “Align Your Website.”

I’ve had this space at kimberlymichelle.com since 2003… first as a personal website, then the continuation of my livejournal/xanga blog since 2007… and it’s never been anything but a story about me. It’s nice to have your domain name be your name, because you own it and it helps remind me to be authentic and real and feel comfortable in sharing myself. But I’ve gone off track some days, and sometimes I just share just “to share” instead of being fully compelled to do so. And while I think it’s perfectly ok to find yourself wandering off the track some days, I’ve lost track of how much “me” is really getting pushed through in this space and how much of the rest is just stuff.  I just keep going and move and change things in incremental bits (like the look, features, etc.), but haven’t stepped back to see what this whole space really says.

With this in mind, a re-alilgnment sounded wonderful. And that’s what I’m currently in the process of doing. And, to be honest, I really loved the introspective exercise of #reverb10 (you can see all the posts here) and wanted to connect back to this space in a meaningful and purposeful manner.

Our first assignment was to assess our current status. See what was actually here, behind every single page. What I’ve created in this space. Look back at it however we want or need to in order to know where we want to go.

There’s a lot here and it’s moved up and around, but I’m looking to be more keen to a central purpose and focus. Two years ago, I did a huge purge of all the “pretty things” blogs that were popping up in the blog landscape. Those blogs weren’t sharing things with me about the people behind them… and I learned the same things I would from the pages of Vogue. I see things pop up on Pinterest now and see the same trend evolving. A picture board of things that people want to be or be seen as… and not a lot of authenticity and present being. And now it’s time for me to step back and make sure that what I’m sharing here is what I would want to read too… I owe that to all of you lovely people who stop by and give me your seconds and minutes each day/week/month/year.

So as I reflect, you might see some changes… and hopefully by December you’ll notice it all together in a good way.