Summer is a time of renewal and celebration for all of us to savour! Hope everyone is having a wonderful summer, out enjoying the warmth and waves. It is your time to shine!

I usually post every week but with the response to the last posting, I felt the words needed time to soak in. This August is an exciting month for Arianna’s Random Thoughts; it marks my 4-year blogging anniversary. Time has really flown by; I never envisioned how amazing this platform would become when I started!

Throughout my blogging journey, many have asked me: how have I created this online space of emergence? The truth is, this space grew through hard work, perseverance, a belief in myself, and a supportive community. To honour this journey to where the blog is today, I thought I would reflect on the process and then share where I’m headed.

Sometimes when we are so focused in the present, we can forget where we have come from. Visual cues are beautiful reminders of the past and are useful in triggering our memory. Hence, the beach theme of the blog is a constant trigger of the day when the thought of this space was planted in my heart.

I remember that day as if it was yesterday: I was in Hawaii on vacation with my family in the late summer before my final year of graduate school; I had this strong desire to change the world. The possibilities were endless on how to enact this vision. I had been looking around for opportunities to begin but kept getting rejected and felt my thoughts were getting lost in the wind. I needed to make them real. But how?

You have so much talent, so many innovative ideas, so much beauty to light up the world! You are seeking support and the action steps to empower you on your journey! Sound familiar?!

Through a conversation on the beach with my sisters, I got the idea to create a blog where I could turn my ideas into action. This was an exciting but terrifying challenge. I was stepping out into unfamiliar territory – I was completely new to blogging. As well, I had no one in my community to learn from who was doing the same thing.

So for the rest of my vacation, I went about brainstorming and building up the courage to start a blog. When I returned home, I signed up for my first blog. I decided to take the leap and learn as I go. This unconventional route has truly changed my life. Now four years later, my passion for Arianna’s Random Thoughts has only deepened. I am excited for the road ahead.

Where is the blog going next?

Just like I was four years ago, I have this idea on my heart and am excited to dig deeper and see where it leads. The initial posts were about me sharing the life lessons I was learning. When I started, I thought blogging was all about the content. Over time, I realized the focus is on the conversations that arise and the relationships that are built. I love the community feel of the blog – this space has grown so much because of all of you!

The passion and drive I had four years ago when I created the blog, I see in so many of you who I connect with on a daily basis. You have a fire in your eyes - I see the hard work and dedication you have put into achieving your dreams – the countless hours of trying. You just want to rise up from the current position you are in.

You are in the exciting stage of Dawn - that early morning state between night (darkness) and day (light), when the sun is about to rise into full position.  Dawn lights up the entire world and shows that the day will be sunny; but Dawn is a transition.

This Dawn stage is what I felt like when I first started this blog. Many of us are at Dawn - the sunrise of our lives. We make an impact solely by being ourselves. Like the sun emerging at daybreak with its vision for the day, we too have a vision of what we are becoming. To shine brightly and rise for the world to see is a tough job – as everyone will see us and sometimes we may not feel like rising fully. But just because it is a long journey to rise to your full potential doesn’t mean it is impossible nor worth the risk.

Each day the sun doesn’t give up; it emerges and lights up the world!

Through digging deeper into my vision of creating a space of emergence, we can strengthen our relationships with ourselves and with each other! Most of all – I want to empower you to have the courage to be your amazing self by providing you with a strong foundation to help you rise!

We can all lift each other up!

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your presence along the way! You Rock! This is your time to shine!

Thank you for reading and your presence at this beach retreat. Since this is a space of emergence, I would love to know more about you all and the projects you are working on. I'm looking forward to hearing your thoughts in the comments section below. Have any questions about blogging or my journey, please feel free to ask. I love talking about this topic.

See you at the beach!