Oh, Icebreakers How Everyone Loves you So!

So learning about the author isn’t necessarily the most important part of a blog, but it does help to give readers a better idea on perspective.  Plus it works to lessen the barriers that come from reading reflections and conclusions written by someone you perceive as a complete stranger.

I get it.  “Who wants to know your life story?  Just tell me what shelves you ordered for your office makeover.”  The purpose of this post functions mostly as a way to alleviate any confusion regarding the purpose of BeelineWeekly.  Mainly, I want everyone to have a clear mind when it comes to why I’m writing a post and what it serves as.

A Quick Review Before the Exam

Just kidding!  No tests here.  But a quick synopsis on who I am and the roles I play in my life can serve as a benefit for the both of us.  You get a good idea of who is writing these posts and I hopefully don’t have to do anymore icebreakers for the rest of this blog’s existence.

First things first, my name is Shelbie and I am a grad student pursuing licensure to earn a LPC and eventually my PhD in the field of Psychology with a concentration in Neuropsychology.  While I work towards these goals, I also work a full time job to put away some savings and help reduce the cost of my education.  Plus the health insurance is a big plus.  The field of psychology has always been a major interest of mine and I truly enjoy exploring the topic on my own and with my peers.  Perhaps some Beeline posts in the future can include more of my career goals and maybe even how I got to where I am today.

I wouldn’t describe myself as a full-fledges author really.  Perhaps I fall within the lines of an amateur writer.  For the sake of ease, however, I have titled myself the author of this project.

Beeline and The Author

To establish a bit of context, BeelineWeekly is a personal growth project where I take in observations and trends and apply them to my own experiences.  These experiences are recounted analytically and written in an easily understandable format for readers to take in the personal information I am writing in my posts and potentially apply that information to their own life.  Current issues and ideas that I notice in my daily life are the most common of the posts I upload.  These are topics such as building a schedule or my upcoming post around effective study practices.  However, points of growth and personal redirection are also included here for the opportunity for someone to learn from what has worked for me and my life.  These are posts that include journaling and rebuilding my daily habits.

But Why Beeline?

Most times when I bring myself to this question, I choose to look at Beeline through the lens of an accountable time capsule.  I can not only look back on the things I have explored, but I can also encourage myself to keep going because there is the potential for another person to gain from the things that I am writing.  I also enjoy a lot of the freedoms that come from a personal blog.  Because there is so much room for me to learn at my own pace, I get to dive into topics that interest me while also making them informative for others.

I aim to make creative explorations another genre of the posts that can be found here.  As I work to remove the negative practices and tendencies that I have garnered in life, I hope for creativity to fill the empty spaces there.  Anything that can help someone build better wellbeing and promote positive action in life is a suitable idea for BeelineWeekly.

A Little More About Me

While it isn’t essential to know too much about me I thought including some extras can help make me a bit more personable for you!  I love to play cozy video games on my PC and pursue creative outlets such as painting, oil pastels, sculpting, and I’ve recently taken up sewing.  Other than that I am a keeper of many plants and find baking a reliable endeavor I can sink my brain into.  My newest potential project is creating a sustainable gardening system in my backyard and perhaps a few chickens if my fiancé and I can get the go ahead from our community.

But when it comes to what truly makes me happy, writing creatively will always take first place.  From unpublished short stories to a baby rough draft for a novel, I seem to always fall back into the rhythm of letting my fingers create stories one word at a time.  If one could take a view into my Google Docs roughly 70% of everything they’d see would be poems, prompts, and everything of the like.  Not only is writing one of my deep loves, but the result of that love also takes a seat on the leaderboard.  Reading and the opportunity to jump into another writer’s thoughts and ideas will forever be a love of mine.

Speaking of which, considering that spooky season is drawing near, I am currently enjoying a few thriller and fantasy novels to keep me going.  Here’s what’s in my bag right now:

The God of the Woods by Liz Moore

“Early morning, August 1975: a camp counselor discovers an empty bunk. Its occupant, Barbara Van Laar, has gone missing. Barbara isn’t just any thirteen-year-old: she’s the daughter of the family that owns the summer camp and employs most of the region’s residents. And this isn’t the first time a Van Laar child has disappeared. Barbara’s older brother similarly vanished fourteen years ago, never to be found.”

The Examiner by Janice Hallett

“Gela Nathaniel, head of Royal Hastings University’s new Multimedia Art course, must find six students from all walks of life across the United Kingdom for her new master’s program before the university cuts her funding. The students are nothing but trouble from day one.”

Releases I’m Excited About:

Evil in Me by Brom

“Aspiring musician Ruby Tucker has had enough of her small rural town and dysfunctional family. But a falling out with her best friend and bandmate has killed her dreams of escaping and making it big in the Atlanta punk scene.  While helping her eccentric neighbor organize his religious relics, an ancient ring clamps down on her finger―possessing her with the spirit of a blood-thirsty demon. There’s no getting it off unless hundreds of people chant a spell to set Ruby free. And what’s worse, the ring is a beacon for evil, drawing an unimaginably wicked mob straight to Ruby, hungry for her flesh.  If Ruby can get her band back together, she has a shot at salvation. It’s time for her to face the music and put her whole soul into a song―one powerful enough to raise some Hell.”

The Bog Wife by Kay Chronister

“In this atmospheric Appalachian gothic, the Haddesley siblings of West Virginia must unearth long-buried secrets to carve out a future when the supernatural bargain entwining their fate with their ancestral land is suddenly ruptured.”

Closing Thoughts

Thank you for making it this far into what is basically an introduction to a pretty self explained seminar.  I hope to build this blog into something that can be used for growth and mindfulness while also making space for a little fun in between.  Let me know what you think Beeline could benefit from and even what topics you’d like to see explored.  See you next time! 🌱