Oh hey!

Are you guys still here?

LOL. Hi! It’s me!

I just had one more thing to say (on this space at least, because let’s be honest, I’m going to “have something to say” ’til the breath leaves my body for good!).

So it’s been almost a month since I wrapped up this blog. I loved reading all the comments you wrote me about that, and in the time since that last post, I’ve been doing what I do, which is, you know, reflect, and write in my journal, and talk to people about stuff. Specifically, about this blog, and about what I accomplished with it, and about why I wrapped it up. All that good stuff.

So here’s what I wanted to write one last post about, and it’s what I realized in the last month from all that reflection: What I thought was me being burned out on blogging, and sharing, and social media, was actually me being burnt out on this brand. And “Dream Big Cape Breton” is a brand, I’ve realized, one that I created without really meaning to, and then held myself to embodying. And that was what no longer “fit” me, not necessarily social media.

Also, what’s cool, I discovered, about cutting out stuff from your schedule and plate, and allowing yourself space to explore new things, is that you uncover what it is you were really trying to do with the stuff you were doing before!

What I mean by that is that over the past month, and especially after going to Podcamp this past Sunday in Halifax and seeing firsthand how people there use Twitter like crazy to build community, (and then giving Twitter more of a try myself), is that I still really love conversations, community, social media, sharing. I just want to be able to do all those things as me. Just me. Leah Noble.

And, yeah, I live in Cape Breton, and I am still interested in being a voice in our community, yes, but I want there to be way more to me — Leah Noble — than just “Cape Breton” and “dreaming big.”

So all of that is to say that there’s a piece of my last post that I want to clarify, and that is that I am actually still comfortable in the role of community leader. I just needed to clarify for myself what that meant, and continues to mean. Because the truth is I love sharing. And I’m going to do it in some form while I’m alive. And social media is actually really fun, if I do it with intention, and awareness, and boundaries (because privacy and non-screen time is essential to mental health, too).

Anyway! You can find me on Instagram, in person out and about, and down the road, most likely, on a new blog. (Because honestly, I’ve been blogging since I was 18. That is twelve years, people! Pretty sure I’ll pop up in blogland again one day!)

And in all those places, I’ll be doing what I do: thinking things, changing my mind about things, and always, always, learning.

“She was bristling with hashtags.”