On October 31, 2008, I was just a girl grasping for hope.
I was struggling with disordered eating that still lingered despite my best efforts to beat it. I felt like I had made a lot of progress, but there was still a missing piece to my puzzle.
Self-love.
I fought a daily battle of self-acceptance, depressive thoughts, and anxiety. Despite the smile on the outside, most days I felt like I was crumbling on the inside. I was simply going through the motions of life and the days were passing me by. Indeed, I was truly thankful for so many wonderful people in my life, but the one thing I couldn’t be thankful for was myself.
I wasn’t quite sure how I was going to get to that place of self-acceptance or happiness, but I decided the first step was going to be writing about it.
And so it all began with a simple Boo on Halloween day!
I have always loved writing because it comes to me easier than expressing my thoughts out loud. It is just me and a keyboard or piece of paper talking to someone out there and thinking things through. Writing is a way for my inner voice to be heard when often it is silenced by all the thoughts swirling through my mind. Writing gives each thought a chance, each thought a moment to be heard and I often clear my mind or work things out as I write.
I guess this is why I was never meant to be a researcher. While I did spend most of my time writing in grad school, my writing was very very formal, scientific, and sterile in many ways. I felt suffocated when I wrote a research paper and I always felt like I couldn’t express my true self. In a paper, there was little room for jokes, sarcasm, stories, or occasional curse words (trust me, I could have used them many times!). It was all too structured.
I wanted to set my thoughts free.
Starting this blog was a way for me to have a creative outlet at a time when my creativity felt stifled in many areas of my life. OSG was the one place where I felt like I could express myself fully. I would simply write about what I wanted to write about, just like in my Creative Writing class in high school that I loved so much. My teacher had us make Creative Writing journals in high school and we could write whatever we wanted to in them. Personal stories, clippings, drawings, poems, deep thoughts, jokes, and anything that we wanted to share. I absolutely loved this journal and I would talk about my struggles with disordered eating, my love for delicious healthy food, animals, exercise, running, the desire for happiness, and whatever else I wanted to talk about.
Over the past two years, I have found that missing piece of self-love. Even on the days when I can’t find it and I am having a bad day, I know that it isn’t far away and it will come back to me. I have met amazing people along the way and I have been touched by the support and kindness of others.
Today, I write because I am truly thankful for these past two years, for sharing my life with you, the ups and the downs, and the discussions, inspiring words, and support. My hope for the blog going forward is to give back as much gratitude, love, and inspiration as I get from writing each day.
Thank you for letting me come into your lives each day and also, for allowing me to come into yours.
As a small token of my appreciation, I am going to do some giveaways!
1) Draw for $25 Glo Bakery gift certificates to be given out to 5 random people
2) Draw for a homemade batch of cookies, Glo bars, or muffins (any from my recipes page!) shipped to your doorstep.
3) Grand prize draw for $100 Glo Bakery gift certificate to one random winner
If you’d like a chance to be entered in the giveaway, please leave a comment below telling me anything about your own passions, journey, or perhaps something you have grown to love about yourself. Contest closes Monday Nov 8th.
I’m off to the kitchen to shoot my video for Challenge #7! Hopefully there aren’t as many flops as last night. ;) Happy Halloween!
Happy 2nd Birthday!!! Woohoo!
My journey’s been a tough one as well. I used to hate winter because it would come with more food and a feeling of being more hungry than usual, cooped up in a house with nothing to do. Summer was always my favorite season because being hot meant I didn’t want to eat as much, resulting in a tinier me. It’s winter again, and I think I’m beating it this winter. I’m really learning to listen to when I’m actually hungry versus when I’m hungry out of boredom. I’m only 19 and I think I have some more lessons to learn, but your blog has definitely helped me. I even went for a run last week! Even though I didn’t stretch before the run, and felt it for a few days after, I did it because I wanted to enjoy it, not to burn calories. To me, that was a big step.
Look at me, rambling on. :P
My other journeys have brought me to a different province. I moved out of the house and out of the province, by myself. I’m scared, but I’m (hopefully) ready for whatever comes up!
P.S.: Basil scalloped tomatoes with homemade croutons? SO GOOD.
My passion is definitely cooking. I love finding ingredients in my kitchen and seeing what I can come up with. My journey of self-acceptance is far from over, but I continue to try each day. I love my eyes and my generous nature.
I can’t believe how successful your blog has become in only two years! It is such an inspiration and I truly look forward to reading it every day.
Happy Birthday OSG!!!
Yesterday I surprised myself by running 6 miles for the first time since my daughter was born and it felt great!
Happy 2nd Birthday, OSG! I’ve really enjoyed your reading your blog and all of your amazing photographs. I would love a chance to win some of your homemade baked goodies. I’m very happy to be the person that I am and where I am in life today.
Hi! I just discovered your blog a few weeks ago. I became a vegetarian in early 2010 and found that as I started experimenting with whole foods and different dishes, I was really starting to love being in the kitchen again (not to mention I was feeling fabulous!). Now that I have started following your blog and have tried so many of your awesome recipes, I have truly found a love of cooking I never had before. I can barely go a day without whipping up something new and delicious and I am always looking and thinking about what I want to try next. I am feeling full of energy and have a newfound zest for life. I love your blogs because they are real..you have good days & bad days,,,good kitchen creations and the occassional flop and that is what makes you so relatable to all of your readers (in my opinion anyways!) I truly enjoy following your blog – so I just want to say Congratulations!! Here’s to many more years of blogging!!
Two years.. and still AMAZING as ever! :D Congrats Ange!!
Something I have learned about myself that I love is my passion for taking beautiful pictures of food. There’s just something about taking TONS of time and effort to make every picture I take for my blog beautiful (at least I try to)… I learned that food is beautiful and if I can make it look delicious on my blog, then maybe people won’t be so *afraid* of things like quinoa, tofu & chia seeds ;) I’m not talking about people who are a part of the ‘healthy living blog community’, but other people… family, friends, loved ones who wrinkle their noses as soon as the word quinoa rolls off your tongue … It’s fun for me to make people embrace things they thought they *hated*. What can I say, I like a challenge!
Happy Birthday OSG!!! A journey that I have taken to appreciate my body and what it can do for me is when I injured my knee last summer. I had to get surgery and I was depressed for a while because I was afraid I would gain weight, etc.. but I learned to eat healthy and let go of my exercise addiction which lead me to the injury in the first place!
Another Sana! Hi :)
P.s I feel old. I have been reading OSG for two years! I appreciate my body so much post spine fracture! I love love being healthy :)
Happy Birthday to OSG! I just started reading your posts about two months ago and haven’t missed a day. I have a large organic garden and teach a weekly cooking class to friends and relatives and have tried several of your recipes. We made the chili filled pumpkin and the pumpkin brownies last week. I lost 35 pounds without dieting, my husband has lost 55 just by eating fresh organic produce from our yard during the last 10 months. Thanks for all of the inspiration!
Happy Birthday OSG!!! I have always been better at expressing myself through writing. I am still working on overcoming my inability to voice my words and confess my thoughts.
You truly are a great inspiration with you words of wisdom and amazing creations in the kitchen.
With love and cupcakes,
Cookteen (Chelsey)
Angela, Happy Blogiversary! I’m a college student, and I feel like right now my passion is finding MY passions. I can really relate to what you say in this post about appreciating the people around you while forgetting about yourself. For me, this is about realizing that while we love the people around us so much, we are each living our own lives and at some point ‘I’ has to come first. Right now my passion is figuring out how to be the best I can be for my family while pursuing my own life and my own dreams across the country.
OH and this is the best give-away I’ve ever seen!! : )
Happy Birthday, OSG! :) Congratulations on two wonderful years.
Happy 2nd birthday OSG! The past few years, I’ve embraced a passion for cooking, trying new recipes and taking risks in the kitchen, not always following a recipe.
Hi Angela, and Happy Blogiversary!!! I don’t know if the contest is open for european residents too?! Anyway, I just wanted to share with you that i’ve never been a selfconcious person!! I have small boobs and that was a biiiig problem for me since my teen years, i was teased for that and i think that is why i never got as selfconcious as i could be…it gets better with the years, my boyfriend loves me like i am since more than 9 years now, but i still can’t love myself…i love your blog and you recently inspired me to start my own!! Thanks!!! (And Happy Halloween! ;-))
I have finally conquered my fear of running and now am training for a marathon. I feel like I have finally mastered how to fuel my body with food, rather than see food as evil.
Happy blog birthday, Angela! Your happiness adds a lovely touch to my days. I’m in the second year of a PhD program, which can be a bit rough but I’m learning that I can do it on my own terms. XO and good luck with the video!
My story is somewhat similar to yours. In high school, I developed a severe case of disordered eating, and even as my body shrunk, I never believed that I was “skinny” enough or “perfect” enough. I wanted the number on the scale to become lower; I was addicted to watching these numbers drop. When I went to college, I carried my disordered eating with me, and it wasn’t until the summer afterwards, when I had less time to worry about food, that I gradually regained my sense of self. I spent a lot of time with my boyfriend, and that gave me fewer chances to think about my body. I guess I could say that my passion for people has helped me immensely. I am involved with numerous organizations that are extremely people-oriented, and these interactions are what I look forward to everyday.
Happy 2nd birthday Oh She Glows. Happy Halloween as well. :)
You’re such an inspiration to me as well as many other women. My blog has also inspired my passions and gives me the voice I couldn’t find for many, many years. Keep up the good work and happy OSG birthday! :)
Thank you for all the amazing writing, pictures, and recipes on your blog! I used to have really low self-esteem and didn’t like anything about myself. While I still struggle, I think I’ve come a long way and I’ve stopped nitpicking at all my imperfections. Great giveaway!!
I’ve grown to love my strength – I am incredibly strong and I’m thankful for it!