A while back I put a pretty significant intention out into the world. I set myself up on a quest to find Hygge (you can read all about it here). Essentially, Hygge is the Danish Art of Happiness, wherein you invite calm, coziness and reflection into your life and home in order to foster a stronger sense of community.
I seriously did not anticipate that a couple of months later, I’d be writing this update post. Not in one million bagillion years.
But here I am.
Ever since LB was born, I’ve been trying to think of ways to build something my family could be proud of, something besides my blog that I could sink my teeth into and be passionate about. Plus, I’ve always kinda had the entrepreneurial bug. I’ve never been one to just sit and I’ve always had a project on the go. The summer I was ten years old, I tried (valiantly) to start a detective company. No jokes. I handed out flyers up and down the road at our cottage for an entire weekend. In fact, one lady paid me five dollars to try to find her lost flip flop. I looked in the bushes and under her car, and then told her she probably had dropped it in the lake. HAHA
With all of that in mind, I’ve held a dream very close to my heart for a long while. I’ve always wanted to start something that drew on all my skills – as a journalist, broadcaster, business woman, blogger and community builder. And maybe it was that first post about Hygge? Maybe that was just the right vibe to send into the universe? But the universe spoke and has handed me an amazing opportunity to fulfill and grow that dream.
I’m pinching myself. I didn’t expect this to happen so quickly. I didn’t expect it to happen for YEARS. But it’s happening now. And I’m saying YES!
Over the course of the winter, I became much closer with a local group of about 50 bloggers in Eastern Canada. I joined their Facebook group a while ago and last year I attended a meet-and-greet in the spring and I remember feeling like everyone was so nice (we’re Canadians, eh!) and the level of mutual respect, admiration and support was palpable.
Truth be told, I was a bit intimidated! I thought I’d be seen as an outlier, come-from-away, who had been blogging in isolation for years and just popped up to have some Perrier and grab a coupon code for an app. But nope – I was ushered into that group with open and warm hearts. And over the course of the last months, it has become one of my favourite places to ‘hang’ out and talk about blogging, support and my regional community.
The group itself started a few years ago when three bloggers who are Moms banded together around blogging. The result was the creation of East Coast Mom Media and it became the platform upon which many of the local blogger events, Twitter Parties and other fun things were built.
Fast forward to now and life has happened (as it’s known to do) and East Coast Mom Media is in a bit of transition. It’s quite natural in the life of a start-up to hit a point where things just need a bit more fuel to keep the momentum going. In fact, that seems to be the most exciting time and opens many doors for new ventures!
So when one of the founding partners asked me to have coffee with her and flat out said she thought I should take over steering some of the operations and help to grow a fledgling company that serves to support and grow the blogger community in Eastern Canada I almost FELL OFF MY CHAIR.
Officially, since last week, I can now call myself the Managing Partner at East Coast Mom Media (ECMM).
HOLY! WHAT?!
What does that even mean?!
Well, it means that I am most definitely going to have an agenda to be MORE AWESOME and introduce you to a few of my fellow East Coasters who are in the design and decor space. There are lots of other types of bloggers too (travel, food, lifestyle, couponing!) and I will soon add a page here on my blog with a list of links, just in case you’re feeling browsy 🙂
Twitter was the foundation of the original ECMM and we will be going back to those roots really really soon. Prizes, contests, giveaways and lots of great conversation. You can follow ECMM, my personal Twitter and DIY Passion’s Twitter to get a head start and watch out for invites to the parties. We are aiming for once a month or so, but there may be more!
It also means that I’m going to start talking about a LOT more real life stuff on the blog. It’s a bit of a relief, I must say. I started this blog as a life outlet and I’m dying to reclaim a bit of it to talk about real stuff AND my love for DIYs and power tools (because we all know that love isn’t going anywhere!) My Family Files will grow, we’ll be doing more Insta Stories and you’ll probably see a few more shares from new blogs on our other social channels too!
I’m still sorta at the ‘say yes and figure it out later’ end of things. But I am SHAKING with excitement about this new project, this new venture…and I am so honoured and humbled to be working with such amazing people to SUPPORT BLOGGERS! (What? Sorry, every time I say that – I have an out of body experience. Hahaha)
To be honest, the past week has been one of the most intense and exhilarating rollercoasters I’ve been on in a while. LB had a doctor’s appointment in the city last Thursday, and as I was driving across the bridge, looking at the city I now call home – I was completely overwhelmed with how proud I am to be taking this step. There were some happy tears on the drive that afternoon. The only other times I’ve cried happy tears like that were the day before we brought Buddy home from the rescue, the day and the day after I married Dan, the entire week after I found out I was pregnant with LB, the day I found out my brother was going to marry his life long love – happy tears mean big things and big love for me, I guess. So I take it as a sign that my tearful trek over the bridge last week means I’m moving in the right direction.
Oh ya- so how is this all Hygge?
I guess it is Hygge because it’s a way for me to nurture a community that I can reach out and touch. By looking inward and reflecting on my heart’s passions and desires, I found friendship and opportunity beyond what I could have ever imagined.
I described Hygge as the art of ‘collecting happiness’… today, that feels like an understatement 🙂
Thank you all for the support and readership and all that has help get me here! I promise, I won’t disappoint!
-E
xoxo
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