If you could see all the drafts I have right now, you probably would not be surprised, being as it’s been almost two years since I’ve published anything on this website.

I know we all hate the “if I had a dollar for..” saying, but if I had a dollar for every time someone asked me what happened to my blog over the last two years, I could probably go out for dinner tonight instead of sadly eating my pathetic cooking.

What I’m not going to do is go into major detail on why I’ve been away from The Jones. Since my last post, so much life has happened. So much has changed. For better and for worse. I’ve gained and I’ve lost. Sometimes life gets in the way of the plans you make and for a little while, The Jones didn’t really make sense to me. And I didn’t intentionally disappear; I more-so just waited to feel like it made sense to me again.

There came a point during my hiatus where I believed I’d never return to these drafts and revive this outlet I once cherished so much. The pressure of “a return” scared me away from even wanting to. So I honored that.

But recently, I’ve been feeling so many things. I feel at a crossroads in life, which puts me in a complete state of openness and vulnerability. I really feel like the next set of choices I make are going to define the rest of my life. So basically, I’ve been a freakin head-case trying to sort out how and why I feel and think and act the way I do. I’ve felt dragged down by my own mind. And I don’t have money for therapy, so I’m doing all of this mental gymnastics by myself and with my poor, patient boyfriend.

And then I had the thought. I used to take to The Jones when I felt this way. It always helped. I lost that outlet in my life for no other reason than I took it away from myself. Suddenly, being away from The Jones made no sense to me. So, I thought, I should give it back.

In the (almost) two years since I’ve written here, I’ve evolved and so have the things that are most important to me. The longer we live in this social media age, the more important transparency becomes for me. I feel like transparency has become as much of a calling for me as acting has always been. Every single day I aim to pull back the curtain as much as humanly possible while still maintaining some privacy. I want this to be my safe space for that. It matters to me so much that I remain a positive influence, especially online. So, I want The Jones to be a place you click on to feel better; less alone.

If you’re reading this because you’re excited that I’ve relaunched this love of mine: welcome back! I have a few ideas for how to stay inspired in this space, and I hope you’ll ride along. If you’ve only started following me recently and had no idea I even had a blog: welcome! Thanks for stopping by. Sorry for the dramatics. It’s not always this way. Just like 80% of the time.

So what can you expect from me here? Inconsistency. I made this space my online journal, and I intend to maintain my format-less format. Whatever inspires me to sit down at my desk and share is what you’ll get. Authenticity. Ramblings. Art. Photography. Basically, my journey. The good, the bad, the ugly and the beautiful.

So, that’s all I’ve got for you today! Just an announcement of my return. If you’ve got reader’s blue balls, feel free to peruse some past entries to see what The Jones was all about. And please please please, leave comments! Let me know what you’d like for me to share. I’d really love for this to be a space where we can connect and share with each other, not just from my end.

Be safe, be kind and happy Sunday!

xo