When you read this, I will be happily in London watching Bonfire Night fireworks and likely kissing my boyfriend Luke at a park. I’m gonna pretend those fireworks for me for a few reasons.
- Being back in London —- this city is beckoning for me to call it home for the next chapter of my life (and beyond potentially)
- Reuniting with Luke — if you read my last post, you probably understand how hard 4 months of long distance was for me and him
- 5 months of dating the aforementioned boyfriend Luke — romance just seems to find us, like what are the odds that there are fireworks upon our reunion
- 6 years of this blog! — which is what this post is all about!
I was recently telling Luke about my pre-trip to-do list and how I needed to sit down and write this anniversary post (as I always do). He told me that he was impressed by the fact that I’d been so consistent with it for 6 years.
And I guess I don’t realize how much I’ve learned about “consistency” from this blog.
In 2019 (the year I started this blog), my word of the year was “consistent”. I remember being so afraid of that word, as I am with all my words of the year, and not making the connection that this word would somehow apply to this project.
I remember how defeated I felt in 2020 when I was mentally in a pretty bad place and I just couldn’t muster up the energy to pour myself into this blog for a bit. I had to give myself grace to say “I need to care for myself before I go pouring out again”, after all I was living through the unprecedented time of the pandemic. Not long after quitting the toxic job that was draining me, I returned to the blog with the light in my eyes slowly returning.
All of a sudden, my passion for this blog reignited and in 2021, I was back baby! It’s so wild to look back at that year because I’m pretty sure I was posting once a week…wow lol.
I was really brimming with ideas of posts and trying everything because I wanted to express myself any way I could. It’s so cool to see how I just sort of relaxed into finding my cadence of 1x post a month.
In so many ways it feels like I was 23 years old and suddenly I blinked and now I’m at the end of my 20s. Suddenly I blinked and this blog has gotten 14k views around the world for the past 2 years. Suddenly I blinked and I’ve learned so much about the art of consistency and the importance of showing up, even if it’s imperfectly.
Now I see the fruit of that and it’s really inspiring me. It makes me wonder what else can grow from me consistently tending to it.
The past year, I really struggled with uncovering how hard I am on myself. Even as I was in an underemployed/transitional season, I kept beating myself up for not finishing the music project I had been telling you all about. I only have the imperfect demos I finished at the end of last year to show for it.
I don’t want to give up on that project. And I’m not going to. I simply have to find my way of showing up imperfectly until it’s launched.
I’m so grateful for the space I’ve created here with SOUNDSLIKEFEELSLIKE because it really has been my kindest teacher with a word I once really struggled with.
That said, I’m also still dreaming of creating safe spaces with SOUNDSLIKEFEELSLIKE to listen to music and feel it all in community. And I think I’m realizing that I need to gather a team of collaborators for it. Maybe as I find my way in London in the next couple years. Everything in its time I suppose.
As for now, thank you to everyone who’s read this blog and listened to my music critic/emotional fangirl vomit in the past 6 years. Especially those that found my Dave Bayley post from last year and reached out to tell me that I captured what they too love about that genius man. It really warmed my heart to share it with fellow Glass Animals fans and connect with them over it. Also I’d be remiss in mentioning the redemptive nature of how my crush on Dave Bayley opened me up to dating Luke. What can I say, I love the English.
Anyway, that’s all I have for you. There will be more fangirl vomit. Definitely more ranting about Bad Suns and their music supervision over my life (they released an album this year and oh BOY is my album of the year recap gonna be crazy). More new music crushes for sure. And generally more leaning into the soundtrack of my life. Thanks for reading, let’s talk again soon.
❤️ Kelly
SOUNDS LIKE FEELS LIKE 