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A Decade of Rewind Live Slow

/ rachelgoes262 / 2 Comments

It’s been 10 years since I started this blog. Back in the day, (mid 2000s) I had a facebook. I deleted my facebook for my mental health. I have no regrets and have not looked back. Once I finished grad school, I decided I was “done” being on the internet and all the drama that goes with it.

In 2015, a coworker suggested I start a blog. She commented that stories I told at work about my life and what I experienced and noticed throughout my day were often comical, and other people may like to read. I decided I also wanted to use all my own original photography and have never used a stock photo on this site. 

I pay for my domain and hosting and try to keep things clean and ad-free for you. 

While some of my earliest posts may have been comical, I do realize that a lot of posts are more serious as I have navigated challenges in life. I try to focus on downsizing, minimalism and simple living, but life happens. We minimize our belongings to focus on the things in life that really matter – the relationships. 

From the comical post era, I will say that one of my personal favorites was the post about the time my yoga pants went to yoga. 

The cats have featured on this blog many times. I try to do a birthday and a gotcha day post for each cat. We now have two social media accounts – a twitter and a bluesky. I have made some new and treasured friends sharing my cats on social media. There have been many times over the past 5 years when the pet accounts on our social media have kept me going.

There is a lot of drama right now with these neighbor issues after we were attacked and physically injured two years ago. We are harassed daily; it prevents me from working and sleeping. There are a lot of moving parts, many of them legal, but I am trying to get us out of this situation and to a safe place. I can’t give a lot of detail right now due to safety. 

However, once it’s all done and we are in a safe place, I have stories to tell about the journey we are now on to try to get to a place of physical safety. 

A few weeks ago, there was gunfire here. 

Right now, I’m trying to post on here once a month. It is a struggle with trying to get us to a safe place to live with all the legal and other logistical parts involved. I am also having some very serious health concerns now.

I just wanted to take some time out to acknowledge that this blog has now been here for a decade. It started June 2015. I wanted to be sure I made a post for the anniversary before June 2025 passes us by.

If you are any kind of praying person, we would appreciate all the prayers and positivity you can muster right now. I’m trying to get us away from these abusive neighbors and to a safe place. Finding housing that will accept four cats is the challenge. 

I will not give up any one of my cats. They are the only family I have left. My entire purpose of buying this house in 2018 was to keep us all together. I love this house. I researched it back to when it was built and learned its stories. 

Due to violent neighbors that have already injured us and continue to threaten our safety daily, we are not safe here anymore.

So please pray we can find a place to live. 

Hopefully the next decade of Rewind Live Slow will be able to get back to more of the comical aspects of past. 

Changes Coming

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Hello there, Readers. We are coming up on the 4 year anniversary of this blog, and I have decided to make some subtle changes that you will hopefully enjoy. I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately to be sure that this space is still meeting my needs and yours. I’ve been thinking about where we have been and where we are going.

Most things are staying the same. When I started this blog, the first thing that came out of my mouth was that all photos would be my own. There are no stock photos on this site. Every picture from the cover photo to what appears with a post is my own original photography. Sometimes, you get the good stuff. If you look through the archives, 2015 was a good photography year for me. Lately, it has been just pictures of my cats or whatever randomness is around me, as my health has curtailed my ability to chase after stellar shots.

Original photography will continue to be a top priority. I am hoping to get some great landscape shots again this summer for us all to enjoy.

Kind of inline with this goal of focusing on photography, I visited this blog from the anonymity of a public google search recently. I was dismayed to see ads sprinkled liberally throughout the post. The really alarming part was that the ads were photos of worms or intestines or something that was not aesthetically pleasing. One of the new changes that is coming is that I plan to upgrade this site to remove the ads. You’re welcome.

Although, I do ask that you please be patient with me in this process, as sometimes it take me a bit to figure things out. Kind of like back in the day when you would get posts with sideways pictures, no pictures, or the picture at the bottom. I have a learning curve.

I also thought about content. This started as a minimalism blog. Yes, you get minimalism. You also get blogs about running, cats, and whatever rambles through my brain. It’s my blog. Get over it. You can read if you want to.

I was thinking about re-branding to more strongly align to a particular theme and then decided to scratch that notion. This blog is my creative outlet. As long as I tag posts with the appropriate theme, people will find me. If I’m just writing into the abyss, that’s okay too.

The biggest change you are going to see will be a slightly new domain name. In keeping with the spirit of original content, and experimenting with google searches, I discovered that these three little words, Rewind Real Slow, most frequently pops up a music video. I do not want to be using a phrase that is already part of someone else’s artwork, so the name of this blog is most likely changing to Rewind Live Slow.

When I was contemplating nomenclature and (re)branding, I went through many ideas. I decided to stay as close to my original notion as humanly possible, since this is working for me. However, I have to be sure that my domain name is unique, so there will be a slight change. The spirit is the same. Hopefully the new website will be aesthetically pleasing.

I figured I would let you all know since I have followers, I am not sure if the technology will keep you or if I lose you when I make these changes. I really appreciate the people who follow me and take the time to read my words, so I want to give you a heads up in case I screw up the programming and accidentally lose you.

In a nutshell, the blog will be renamed Rewind Live Slow with accompanying domain name, and will hopefully appear as a web site without ads. We are still trying to create a life you don’t need to escape. The goal is always to be able to focus on the important things in life – the people you love and the things you like to do.

Please be patient with me and stay tuned. Thank you for reading. I appreciate you.

My First Art Show

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With my photo on display at my first professional art show – The Regional Photography Exhibit sponsored by the Cultural Council

I have the honor and the privilege of having one of my photos chosen for the Regional Photography Show this year held by the local Cultural Council. It is my first professional art show. Never before have I even submitted my work for anything.

As you can see from the opening reception photo above, the work I submitted is the piece that has been the cover photo of this blog from day one. I have never used any stock photos on this site. All photos are my original photography.

Granted, in the past few years since my stroke, most photos have been of the cats or whatever is immediately around me. You have to go back in the archives to see more of my landscapes when I was physically able to travel around more to the beaches and parks. My disability has kept me grounded and closer to home more than is normal.

My work will be hanging in the public library all month, along with some other very stunning and brilliant work. It is very humbling to see whose company I share.

The opening reception was an amazing opportunity to connect with the other photographers and artists. It meant so much to me that some of my coworkers and other of my community friends were there for the reception. I think next to buying my house last month, that my first art show is the highlight of my year.

One of the questions that was asked of us right before the show was hung was if our work is for sale and the price. I did not respond with my work being for sale. I don’t take photos to make money. I take photos because I enjoy it. Then, I post them here with some ramblings about my life at the moment for everyone to enjoy. So my photo is just hanging in the library for everyone to enjoy and it’s not for sale.

When my photo was chosen for the exhibit, I had it professionally mounted and framed. It is so much better than the $10 Walmart frame I had it in. Once my work is done being in the show, it will return to the space it occupies in the hall between the bathroom and bedroom. Except when it returns, it will be in a much more professional form.

I deeply appreciate all of my readers and everyone who visits my blog. No offense, but having one of my photos in the public library for the month is a little bit more amazing. It’s hanging in the library where I live for people in my community to see. That’s kinda cool.

However, I never would have made it this far or even had the gumption to enter the contest if it hadn’t been for the past 3 years of this blog. Thanks for reading. Thanks for being there. I just keep going trying to rewind real slow.

Thanks for supporting my work by reading me. This art show is dedicated to everyone who has been following my journey showcasing my work on this blog.