How I’m working to bridge the gap between older writings and new beginnings while welcoming the threads that hold them together.
First, I want to start with a big, hearty hello to all of my friends here, remember me? I’ve said this before and apparently, I’m saying it one final time but I never planned to be quiet for this long, it was simply the consequence of uncertain times and personal needs. When I first started thinking about how to approach my first WordPress post in three years I went back to my last few blogs and, with the perspective of time and distance, it’s clear I was ready for a change.
In May 2020 I wrote about my struggle with if I wanted to return to blogging.
Just because I haven’t posted here doesn’t mean I haven’t thought about blogging though, my old habit of keeping lists and journal notes for inspiration has continued, now I’m looking to them for direction and clarity of purpose.
Letting the days go by – May 25, 2020
By June I was thinking through how the isolation of the pandemic affected my creativity and my growing desire for privacy.
Filled with contradictions I have pages of ideas and images to share but these budding stories conflict with an equally sharp need for privacy. For safety in the quiet solitude of home, my carefully controlled space. I want to go exploring, leave the boundaries of my yard, but I also want to stay inside just a little longer.
Illustrate – June 16, 2020
And this closing paragraph of my last post now sounds like a New Year’s Eve farewell.
My final image is the December photo that inspired this year-end post. Once again I was inside looking out but an evening of couch time, quietly editing photos on my phone while John and Ryan watched tv left me with one image I really liked. Thoughts of a years worth of views filtered and compressed through lenses, windows, mirrors and screens came together and here we are closing 2020 behind two layers of glass, facing forward with the past in a mirror. Cheers to a brighter, clearer, safer and happier 2021!
2020 – A year behind glass – December 31, 2020
I began writing as a way to share my first love, photography. I’m a photo first, words second kind of person and, that hasn’t changed but, while I continued to document my travels, hikes and simple daily moments the sentences didn’t flow like they once did. They were never my focus and in 2020, the lack of them was holding me back.
What this means today is that I’m reaching for a fresh start, a completely new beginning, a blank, white page if you will. So, while I’ll keep this blog open as it belongs to an important period in my life, my new work is now published on Substack, a writing-focused platform that offers both email subscriptions and an online in-box for newly published newsletters. It’s fun and easy to use and you can find and follow me here with the same name, Northwest Frame of Mind.
What am I writing about to fill this new home? It’s an interesting mix of things I enjoy; hiking, travel, and local events. I don’t write as frequently as I used to, publishing newsletters only a few times per month, but each one is crafted with thought and discusses a topic that excites me. I’ve chosen not to join daily challenges or group writing exercises, instead I move ahead with the nugget of an idea that interests me and then take the time to explore it a little more.
For example, I’ve written about hiking with Ryan Reaching Valhalla on a Friday Afternoon, attending The 31st Annual Wild Mushroom Show in Bellingham, WA with my dad and I’m beginning a travel diary series from our recent road trip around Iceland starting with Iceland in the Spring – Keflavik to Reykholt in West Iceland.
I’m also allowing myself to return to older posts from this blog, revisiting them to add new thoughts and fill in some things I wanted to say but didn’t feel up to in the moment. You may remember The Scent of a Lake in the Mountains from 2018, and if so, I hope you’ll pop over to see its new sister-post The Scent of a Lake in the Mountains – Why My Favorite Hikes Lead Me To Water on Substack. I enjoyed writing this one, beginning with a favorite quote and then taking off in an entirely different, more personal direction than the original.
I illustrate each new post with plenty of photos (my favorite part) so if you enjoyed my earlier photography you’ll feel right at home with my PNW views accompanied by Ryan, John and Finn. The slow but steady process of opening up again has been equal parts fun and fulfilling and if you’d like to follow along you can subscribe for free to receive new updates. I hope you’ll choose to join me in this next chapter!
With gratitude, Lisa
Northwest Frame of Mind 
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