Launching my blog

My best friend of 17 years passed away 3 weeks ago, completely unexpectedly.  This latest tragedy in a series of struggles and challenges in my life has inspired me to utilize my gift of written gab in some constructive format, in hopes of being able to make sense of it all.

I am not one to run out of things to say, at least not "on paper", and I have a tendency to perhaps share more than necessary in the online communities I am a part of.  Hopefully, having this blog as an outlet will help me process my thoughts and ponderings more effectively and appropriately.

I envision myself writing about 4 general topics:  my faith, my heritage, my struggles, and my joys.

1. Faith
   a. My spiritual journey over the years has introduced me to various religious traditions.  Since committing to walking with Christ, my journey has  led to various epiphanies about the meaning of life that I can't wait to share.
   b. I'd also like a place to ponder Catholic Christian apologetics, which may very well be mixed with various Catholic devotions that are near and dear to my heart.

2. Heritage
   a. Having emigrated from my native Poland in the second grade, at the age of 8, I left early enough to have been able to assimilate completely and comfortably in my new homeland, but late enough that I continue to hold the Polish language and the history of my people near and dear to my heart.
   b. My early childhood memories and family traditions continue to embroider my life with Polish influences.

3. Struggles
   a. Growing up a shy child-immigrant left me prone to low self-esteem, the results of which I continue to deal with as an adult.
   b. Furthermore, two other key circumstances have had a deep impact on my self-identity.  My father was involved in a vehicular accident 13 years ago, which left him with a serious brain injury that has changed the course of our family's life.  Also, my husband and I are among the unfortunate 20% of the population affected by infertility. We continue to discern where the Lord would have us go, as thus far, our attempts to adopt have been unsuccessful.

4. Joys
   a. One of my long-time passions is environmental stewardship, aka "being green".  My husband, Alex, and I recently joined our church's GreenFaith team in hopes of spreading this important aspect of Christianity that sadly generally gets ignored by Christian leaders and faithful alike.
   b. In my college and graduate school years, I developed a taste for critical media analysis.  I take everything I read, watch, or listen to with a grain of salt.  I enjoy interpreting the world around me in this way, though it does tend to be a buzz-kill at times.

So there you have it - these are the sorts of things that make me who I am, what I stand for, and therefore, what I am most likely to write about.  Welcome!  Enjoy the ride!