The first post of any new publication is always, for me, the most difficult. Should I be informative, clever, funny, serious; should I share all or any of the plethora of personas that inhabit my world? After all, this is a first impression. We all know what they say about first impressions. Right…the pressure is on. I’ll start with a brief introduction and then explain how this name came to fruition.
Hi. My name is Sheryl, and I am a serial starter upper with a short attention span, a big heart and chronic inability to say no even when I should.
There are days I don’t leave my couch. I sit, quietly perfecting one of these two lifestyle choices:
Binge-watching British crime dramas while doing something with yarn. I make yarn, I knit with yarn, I crochet with yarn, I weave with yarn…basically, my life is one big ball of yarn unraveling a little at a time.
When I turn off the television and put away my colored string, I can be found reading which leads to pondering the meaning of the universe while asking what the in the world am I supposed to be doing to compensate for the space I take up on earth?
If that sounds a bit dramatic, it is intentional. Drama is one of my greatest coping mechanisms, albeit one I primarily live out inside my own head. Early in life I discovered the art of making things sound bigger or worse than they really are so that the truth is a relief. Years have been spent honing this skill. As a child, I remember running into my room, sobbing while hurling myself across my bed like a diva from a 1940s B movie. This little film noir move never got me my way, but it changed the focus and people left me alone to get over myself. This was a big win in my book.
When I get into one of these cosmos pondering states, bemoaning my fate and questioning any value added to the world, my friends and family are quick to come to my defense and tell me how wonderful I am. It is nice. I appreciate their concern, but I know I am nice and a good person. Shouldn’t there be more?
And, that brings us to today’s topic: What’s with the flowers, and what is a Bloomer?
I’m glad you asked.
Like most of my great ideas, this name came to me while sitting on the couch. I have a thing for one name titles. It is all about words. If I can come up with one great word to convey the message I have in mind, I might as well have won the lottery.
I think I was looking at my phone (I wish I could use emojis, but that would take away any writer credibility I might possess) looking at a collage type image of things associated with the Baby Boomer generation. It was then I realized that, though technically born in that timeframe, I don’t relate to that generation. I married that generation. That is not me.
The next question I asked myself was, “What does describe me and my free form, fluid, and ever-changing approach to life?” And at that moment the word Bloomer wandered into the airspace of my conscious mind.
Heading now to the all-knowing interwebs, I went in search of definitions for the word bloomer. I was thinking along the lines of “late bloomer” but instead I found pictures and articles about bloomers - an article of clothing worn by girls and women under their skirts. I never thought about underwear when the name arrived in my brain, I was thinking flowers, shedding, transformation and growth.
It is important to note that I am generally one of the last people on earth to know about the latest trends, gossip and news. I pretty much live inside my own head. When I stumbled across this article called The Bloomer: A Meme that Society Should Strive to Be by Michael Roy on Medium, written in 2019, I once again was reminded of just how out-of-the-loop I really am. I have linked the article for you. It says exactly what I was thinking when I chose the name. Plus I get to use flowers in my posts; that is not an insignificant thing. And, just in case I thought I might need another domain name and website, www.boomerbloomer is already taken.
There is, I suspect, so much more that I am going to learn and share regarding the significance of this word in my life. My hope, prayer and goal is to share my uniqueness which might just open a door to you discovering and relishing in yours.
Well, I think I have just about covered the high points. There is more or else I couldn’t hit your inbox again. Next time I will begin the deep dive into my unique little world and how I manage to survive in spite of myself.
Welcome to my party, and until next time, be kind to you.
