Tuesday 14 September 2010

Life to the Full


For the past nine months, I've been grappling with finding my blog's freaking niche. And by niche, I mean my theme or overarching vision. All the bloggery experts say this is important, but as a Jaqueline of all trades, it's was easier said that done. I had the general idea, but found it difficult to articulate.

On Monday night inspiration came, so I grabbed it and forced it to the page. I'm interested in hearing what you think, how I can express it more clearly and any ideas you have about what I could do in the future to build the blog around this vision. This is the closet thing I've got to a manifesto, and the direction I want to take Seattle Imagery in, and all feedback is appreciated.

Here goes...

What I'm all about (& thus, this blog) is:

LIFE TO THE FULL.


For me, a full life isn't about a full schedule. To the contrary, it's about prioritizing what really matters, pruning the dross and giving space for life to grow.

Some of my priority big guns (the things you'll find on this blog) include:
    •    pursuing a simple but generous life
    •    creating beautiful things (I don't discriminate)
    •    experiencing the world - out of the suburbs, out of the country, out of the comfort zone
    •    doing my bit to make the world a happier, more just place

I'm all about breeding abundant life not only for myself, but for my neighbors in Seattle and around the world. When I lived in London I worked in international development, so poverty and injustice are always in the back of my mind.  When I attended college in Malibu, where the parking lot could be mistaken for a BMW dealership, I learned that money doesn't preclude people from issues either. The thieves of life take on many forms.

I want life to the fullest for myself, my friends and family, hungry children in Malawi, over-fed Americans swimming in debt, trafficked women in Cambodia, overwhelmed mums everywhere, refugees, frazzled ex-pats, lonely privileged middle-classers and prostitutes down the street on Aurora Avenue. The needs are different but great, but the source of life is greater.

So...life to the full.

I'm hoping to develop this theme in my own sweet time, but in the meantime I'd really appreciate your thoughts.

What does a full life look like to you? Where do you go to find inspiration? How can I develop this blog further along this theme?


Thanks so much for your comments!


{photo from Shana Rae - Florabella Collection via flickr}

12 comments:

Rachael Randal said...

Wow, Alisha.

Your theme is perfect for you. You've definitely hit IT. Love your new about page too. In terms of where you could take your blog with this, I'll email you some thoughts if anything springs to mind. Wish we could discuss over a flat white!

Joanna Roddy said...

Lovin' it! And loving your new cursive font title!

Life to the full: I particularly love what you said about pruning away the dross to protect full life--you know this is dear to my heart these days.

I'll let you know if I have any bright ideas in this direction, but I did think: what about compartmentalizing each of your focus areas and rotating posts on these topics? Keep up your beauty roundups, highlight a worthy humanitarian effort (or invite others to join you in one), simple living ideas, world inspirations, adventures in vocational acrobatics. :)I'm thinking of d*s's rotating articles under set categories like "we like it wild" "Sneak peek" "living in" and "biz ladies" etc.

So excited to see how your manifesto drives you to greater things!

alisha said...

Rachael, I wish we could discuss over a flat white as well! Thanks for the encouragement. :)

Joey, good idea about compartmentalizing the focus areas - I was thinking about doing something similar. Let me know if you think of any more witty titles for the columns. Vocational acrobatics is great!

Heather Rae said...

Your theme is great! I think you could really do a lot with that. I, too, have had a difficult time with my niche, and honestly, it seems to change as I do (not drastically, but little nudges here and there). I know all the big bloggers say we should stick to a specific theme, but I think it's okay to go a bit broad. It's working for me anyhow. :) I look forward to seeing how your theme manifests!

Jessica said...

I LOVE IT!!!! And that's all I have time to write tonight but wanted you to know it sounds exciting! I like Joey's idea too about topics in rotation:)
x0x

Dee said...

I love it, all of it. Want to read about it. Go you! xx p.s. love your new look too!

alisha said...

Heather, I'll definitely give my blog room to morph if it needs to. The beauty of not following the rules to a T. :)

Jess & Dee, thanks so much for your support and enthusiasm!!

Stacy said...

Alisha, this is really lovely! I've recently been converted to the idea of a personal vision/mission statement—always considered it a bit fake before but have been glad to be proven wrong. This post really seems to be a mission statement for your life; writing a blog at all is pretty pointless unless it helps you achieve that mission. All to say, go for it—but don't do it because that's what the "big bloggers" say to do. Do it because it fosters the growth of what's really important to you. Anything else is a misdirection of priorities. Ugh—sorry to be a bit preachy, but I've been thinking a lot about this myself lately.

Nadine said...

I love this!! Life to the full is fantastic!

And so true about this line:
I learned that money doesn't preclude people from issues either. The thieves of life take on many forms.

Congrats on the new blog theme!

alisha said...

Stacy, you're right on. My niche indeed is a bit of a mission statement. I want this life to the full theme to be about way more than this blog, it's about who I am and what I'm doing. Not that this wasn't me before I wrote it down, but writing it down makes it easier for me to focus my time and energy on what's important. Thanks for your support!

Nadine, so glad you like it too! :)

TheLadyWhoLunches said...

I really really like this. It's inspiring, it keeps people coming back for more because who doesn't want to live life to the fullest? I'm in the midst of creating my manifesto as well - not sure how it will (if it will at all) change my blog, but I look forward to seeing how you go about integrating your theme.
My entire hard drive just crashed today - another starting point for me. Seems that's my theme always - fresh start, fresh day. I lost everything (except my novel which I had backed up) and I don't mind that much...
Anyway, re-adding you to my RSS feed now on Apple Mail!

alisha said...

Megan, I like it: "Who doesn't want life to the fullest?" Seriously. But, I have been surprised at how many people settle for less.

Good luck with your manifesto (can't wait to read it) and starting from scratch digitally. Good thing you backed up the novel!

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