I’m coming to you as I sit in my bed underneath the covers on this post snowy winter Sunday. A rare Sunday post because….our girl is turning 4 today!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy 4^th Anniversary!!!!!!!! Happy 4^th Birthday!!!!!!!!

January 8^th, 2013, I took the leap. A leap that was years and years in the making. I’ve always loved to write but sharing is something that I always halted upon. 

Even now it is difficult to hand my work to someone to read, so I put it up here to get it out there.

I don’t know who you are, I don’t know what you feel, or how you take what I post on here, but my hope is that you can relate. That you and I have similar hearts and we somehow can understand each other.

“A safe place for the written word.” That is the motto of this blog. That is what this blog represents for me, and in turn I want it to represent that for anyone who reads it, because I know how it feels to be a writer and to feel that level of uncertainty in everything you write and post.

I work with kids and I teach Creative Writing, Film Club (a film analysis type class), and Improv Theater. Our new session started and I switched things up a bit, and instead of Film Club I am doing Film Making.

In college I studied, Film and Broadcasting. Although I can’t say I ever fully felt confident in my film making skills, I know I have it in me, to create something that people can feel from and relate too. For a long time I strayed from filming. It was a creative fear of mine, and to some extent I think it still is. Will I know what I’m doing? What if I mess up? What if I do it wrong? What if no one understands my message? Those questions can really mess with my head and in turn they stop me from doing something I actually really do love.

But as I become more and more in love with YouTube, I get inspired to want to be creative on a different level. I’ve made promises on this blog many times, about wanting to film more, about wanting to create videos based upon my writing.  I would dabble in it and then stop, there wasn’t too strong of a follow through. And I feel like I’ve let myself down, and by extension let you down too.

But last year I had the right idea, I didn’t make you promises, I kind of just let myself go and be and see what happened. And in turn a concert vlog was put up.  Something I didn’t plan, something that just happened. Being able to look back on that experience is really something cool, and I’m really glad I did it!

I’m a planner by nature and so instinctively I already have a list of goals for 2017. One of them is to expand this blog and to expand my YouTube channel. For years I’ve had a channel and I barely post on it.

A few weeks ago I posted a fun announcement on here.

I announced I was going to do a short small version of Vlogmas-where vloggers on YouTube video their daily life for the entire month of December. I started my vlogging on December 23^rd and continued post Vlogmas and into New Year’s Eve. I took a break on the 28^th because there wasn’t anything really going on, but a vlogged for about a week, consistently. I have always thought vlogging was so cool, and I wanted to give it a chance. I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised at myself for actually doing it!

Spoiler Alert: Editing has been a slow process, but I am actually in the process of uploading my first day on YouTube now! (When they are all edited/posted I will do a whole post with all the links! It’s going to be a while, but I am definitely feeling the editing high from this last once, man I’ve missed that feeling!)

This year is already off to a cool start.

I feel like agreeing to teach film making has given me the push I needed to get myself back into film making. It scares me to be teaching it, but because I took that on, I feel a sense of responsibility to teach my students everything I know and everything I don’t know. Which means I will have to get back into it and research and learn. I’m scared, but I’m really excited. We already got our equipment in and I felt like my heart lit up and my mind started going with ideas. The kids seem really enthusiastic which I think is just want I need to keep up the momentum!

Another thing that I am happy to say is that I have been working on a new short story series- Welcome Home. There are currently two chapters up and the third will be up this coming week!

My posting days may change as well, I feel like Mondays are difficult for me, for some reason. I start to prep a post and then it doesn’t get posted until Tuesday. Same as with Thursday posts, sometimes they don’t get posted until Friday. So I’m going to start to really plan out my schedule and see when the best day to fit in writing and researching is and when the best days for this blog will be. I want to give it the time it deserves. I don’t want to rush content.

I really want this year to inflict change in my life. Good change. Change is something I fear constantly. But change is also what makes life interesting. It’s what gets you from point A to point B an eventually to point Z. Accepting change, living in the now and really challenging myself is what I want to work on this year. It’s all about just being the best version of me, doing my best and striving for greatness.

So thank you for all your support. Thank you for reading, liking, following.

Thank you, thank you, thank you. I hope to interact more with you this year! 😀

I like to believe in the underdogs, because when they make it, the feeling is stronger somehow.

God Bless. Happy 2017!

And again…

Happy 4^th to my baby – Michelle Leigh Writes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Or rather my toddler, you guys this blog is already a toddler!!!!

Stay Tuned…this year feels promising!

Subscribe to my YouTube channel: Michelle Leigh

Follow me on Twitter: @Shellbelle91

Spoiler Alert: I tweet about television shows for the most part, #LIVETWEETER.

-<3-