The Thrifting Magpie

Hi I'm Tracey, a.k.a. The Thrifting Magpie.

This is my very first blog.

 I am excited, nervous and know that I’m very late to the social media party.

I have lived up to my moniker ‘Tardy Tracey’.

Maybe, I should give this a stylish spin, and say I’m fashionably late.

When you want to make an entrance, aren’t you ‘supposed to’ arrive a little late?

I do it in real life. I may say that the bus was on diversion or there was very bad traffic, but most likely, the real reason why I’m tardy has nothing to do with transport and everything to do with fashion fickleness, as in changing clothes five times, only to come back and settle on the first outfit I originally tried on. 

Maybe I should say I didn’t receive the invite to this social media party.

Or, even better I have been waiting to receive the invite.

Perhaps it got lost in the email.

Okay, I’m late and no excuse will do.

If this social media party was a ‘live’ in-person event, I would be worrying about what to wear, what to say, meeting and mingling and most importantly how to make sure no spillage occurs on my ensemble. (Spills, splatters and stains love me.)

Instead, since, this is a cyber event, I’ve been worried about what to say, how to say it, which links to share and which pics to post, especially any of me.

This blog thing is like the first day of high school. Nervous anticipation. You’re going into new, unfamiliar territory and the one word that’s on your mind is cool. You want to look cool. Be cool. Say cool things. Do cool things. Hopefully, be one of the cool kids. Or at the very least, fit in enough, so you won’t be labeled as one of the ‘uncool’ kids.

(Don’t ask how many hours days months, I spent agonizing over the first day of high school perfect cool outfit.)

Blogging also means putting yourself and your words, thoughts and perspective out into cyberspace. Anyone can find you. Admittedly, ‘finding’ depends on search engine ranks. Here’s my shout out to Google. Up that ranking to page one! However, once you’re found, your words can be read. Pics can be eyed. Links can be opened. The blogging box has been opened and now the comments, opinions, and judgments can come.

And you come back to the questions you always come back to when you are in a new, (i.e. uncomfortable, unknown) territory; questions you really don’t want to admit to, much less post:

‘Am I cool?’ ‘Is this blog cool?’

It’s like the summer before high school all over again.

I remember the first time someone recognized my name. It was early in my freelance writing career. I introduced myself and I could see this woman mentally searching her brain’s filing cabinet to find my name. An ‘aha’ look spread across her face. She remembered. I was the writer whose column she had read that morning. She loved it. It made her laugh. This made me happy. Also embarrassed.

And very exposed.

The high school thoughts/questions again:

Do they like me?

What do they think of me?

And let’s not forget about the nervous, negative self-talk.

Don’t even get me started on blog envy. Well, not envy really, more like a feeling of not living up to the blog. The cool factor again.

Great blogs inspire me. (Okay, and if I’m honest, depress me, not depress depress me, more like, will I ever be part of the cool blog?)

 See, I’m really an introverted extrovert.

Or an extroverted introvert.

Same difference. Isn’t it?

(Maybe that could be a blog discussion.)

I’m a writer, a participant observer in life.

Blogging is exposing. Or I envision it to be because it’s writing and to me, good writing is exposing.

I also want things to be perfect, even though, I know in my heart of hearts, nothing is perfect.

It’s at this point I must remember one of my favorite ‘Tracey’ sayings, ‘perfection lies in imperfection.’

So, here I am giving it an imperfect go. I hope you enjoy it. Find creative inspiration. Fabulous finds. Thrifty tips.

And know that I strive to give good blog.

♥Tracey