Hey! Remember me?
When I started seminary in 2019, I knew that my workload was going to take a toll on my ability to blog regularly. What I wasn’t prepared for was how the work of writing, preaching, and doing the work of theology, ethics, and community care would all but supplant my investment in talking about sustainable fashion.
It’s not that I don’t still hold sustainability as a high value. In fact, living in a city that, by and large, doesn’t care about reducing waste, sustaining ecosystems, or creating a circular economy makes it more a part of my life than ever.
But, when I look back at my blog (and life) in the early days of blogging, I realize I was using this space to fulfill an intellectual and creative need. While I enjoyed my work in the service industry, it wasn’t exactly scratching the itch of my curiosity about the world. And it didn’t always feel like I was making anything better.
Maybe talking about sustainable fashion all these years hasn’t made a real contribution either. But it has helped me untangle some knots in complicated ethics conversations. It was likely a factor in my choosing to go to seminary. And it has given me hope and skepticism in equal measure.
While I’m less optimistic about revolutionizing the fashion industry than I was several years ago, I am also heartened by the ways my blogging colleagues and I have moved on from being proto-influencers to legitimate forces in the world, as journalists, activists, authors, business owners, and even priests.
Blogging, and the early blogging community, was a catalyst for significant growth. It doesn’t have the social influence it used to have, in a digital landscape bombarded by bottom-of-the-barrel influencer campaigns. But it is still making ripples.
This kind of sounds like a farewell address, but it isn’t. At least I don’t think it is. I’m just looking back at the last year of “content” and realizing I didn’t produce much of anything.
Well, I produced dozens of sermons, ran three Bible and book studies, facilitated committees, attended conferences, ran a church for two months, and started the most tedious job search of my life. But none of that work shows up here.
My work is for my community, and my blog is not my only community any longer. That’s ok. Perhaps it was inevitable. If I can ever catch my breath, I’ll try to write a bit more, share a bit more, imagine a bit more for this space.
But I can’t deny that my life has changed, and this blog must change, too. What should I do next?
I have enjoyed the blog throughout the years, but I am burnt out on shopping and consumerism in general. Over the past few years, I have been attracted to the posts you do on faith, issues within Christianity, etc. I recently moved to the South and am having trouble finding a church, so it’s always nice to hear complex takes on Christianity. I also appreciate just the day in your life sort of posts—I really like the Cup of Jo feature where you just offered what you wear in your profession, regardless of whether it was “linkable” or not.
I appreciate your feedback and agree with you on burnout. It’s hard to justify continually promoting consumption, especially on a sustainability blog. I’ll likely be moving for a more permanent position in a few months and am hoping to have a little more work-life balance (wishful thinking) or at least a more appropriate place to take outfit photos. Now that I’m getting more used to wearing clericals, I think it will be a nice outlet to do some OOTD posts every once in awhile. If you’re interested, I post my sermon manuscripts on leahwise.com. Praying for you as you look for a church.