It's honestly hard for me to write this.
Not because I'm unsure of my decision but because it's a decision that I didn't think I'd be making for years, if ever. When I first joined the book blogging world my life was in a hard transitional period. My husband and I were going through a tough time financially, were living in his friend's parent's basement, and were recovering from the devastation of an ectopic pregnancy after attempting to get pregnant for over a year. That time in my life was one of pain, insecurity, and unknowing. We didn't know what we were going to do next, what step we were going to take, and I found myself struggling deeply with my anxiety and depression. It was at this time that I discovered the book blogging world and it brought such a light to my life. I've always been a huge reader and I always wanted to do more with the books that I read. I've always wanted to be an author but, in the meantime, I wanted to be a part of it in a different way. I wanted to read books and help authors and spread the word on amazing stories.
From that day forward, I have thrown myself into blogging about books and making it a huge part of my life. There's been ups and downs over the years, moments of inconsistency and a lot of changes to my content. But I always made it a priority.
Almost eight years later, I've come to a standstill.
I've recently dedicated myself to fixing myself, working on my anxiety, changing parts of my life that no longer align with my goals and the things that are no longer a part of my dream. I'm working on my faith, working towards becoming a better mom, a better wife, a better person in general. I'm working on me and the things that I want my life to have.
Unfortunately, book blogging is no longer at the top of that priority list.
My life was in a transition point when I first started blogging and now I find myself myself in a similar - yet strongly different - situation. I am changing and evolving and growing as a person and my life is starting to align with that. My anxiety is heightened by clutter (both physical and mental) and stress. I'm a mom of two, I homeschool my five year old, I babysit for a family that we love, I'm journeying down the path of minimalism, all while working towards my goal of publishing my first book.
Although I love spreading the word about great books and helping out authors, I no longer enjoy the act of blogging. It's become more of a burden instead of a pleasure and there are other, more precious and important ways in which my time could be better spent.
I'm ready to tackle my own goals and dreams and put my energy into my family, my life, and my own writing career. I will still be sharing on the Rainy Days and Pajamas Facebook page and sharing my thoughts on books that I read but I will no longer make reading such a job. Reviews that I have promised will still be posted, ARCs will still be read, but this blog, until further notice, will officially be on hiatus. When it will become active again, I'm honestly not sure. It honestly may never be active again. This may be it, guys.
It's been a great run but here's to the future!
I hope to see you again soon - holding my own book in my hands.
If you've read this far, I give you a big high five and you're freakin' awesome.
If you'd like to follow along with my writing journey and want to help spread the word about my future books, click the graphic below.
Peace out, guys.
- Darcus.
