I’m a bit late to celebrating two years of The Cozy Owlet, but here we are. It was a little over two years ago that I decided to elevate my reading hobby to a writing one. And I hope you’ll grant me the indulgence of reflecting on that time period – on how much I’ve grown and how far we’ve come. (We will return to more traditional posts shortly!)

From a confused start…

I’m not sure I’ve ever shared the true origin story of this blog. In the spirit of reflection, I thought it might be helpful to lay it out more fully.

Two years ago – Fall of 2022 – my life felt a little bit out of control. The pandemic had helped me form some bad habits: I spent almost all my time and energy thinking about work. This led to some great career success – I had learned my profession rapidly and was tackling more challenging projects. But it cam eat the expense of disconnection from the rest of my life. While I read in high volumes that year, it was in sporadic binges followed by long “dry spells” of burnout. By the summer, I had already started considering how I could gain back control over my life.

Then that fall, several of my closest friends and mentors left my firm. And as I watched these relationships, ones I had spent years building and growing, disappear into the ether, I was by the sense that these could not be everything for me – that I needed to carve out more space for my own passions. This was not the first time that I had tried to gain back this kind of space in my life. But prior attempts had failed – almost always eroding back to give more and more time to work. And so this time, I decided to something a little more… structured. Enter the Blog.

…and a shot in the dark…

Somehow I decided that a blog chronicling my reading was the best answer to this conundrum. I was in the midst of a Miss Marple binge; the Christie TV adaptations are perfect accompaniments to crochet and knitting. I realized that reading a Miss Marple or watching two adaptations and then writing a blog post should take no more than10 hours a week. And I decided that if I couldn’t find that 10 hours, something had gone seriously, awfully wrong with my life. My blog would be my canary in the coal mine, ensuring that I could keep my sense of self.

And so – I started writing. Almost immediately, I realized that I had timed this new hobby to coincide with the onset of online classes. Just as I figured out that time management challenge, I decided that I needed to write a special series for the holidays (thus was the Advent of Mystery born). I also discovered the wonders of NetGalley and had to learn how to balance reviews with my regular posting schedule. So much to learn, so much to think about….

I fell in love. As I kept writing, it became easier and easier. I gained practice (and, I like to think, skill) at taking photos of my latest reads. At first, my community was small – composed of only my most supportive friends and family. When I started the blog, I told myself that I was doing this just for me, that it wouldn’t matter if anyone else ever read my writing. But over time, more of you discovered my blog, and I started to see visitors from every continent pop up in my visits. I had never imagined that I could write something that would interest readers from as far away as Hong Kong or Bahrain, yet here they were.

…to a fulfilling adventure

In the last year, this blog has fulfilled so many purposes. On the pure blog front, I’ve managed my second year of the Advent of Mystery. I’ve written while at school, and while traveling. I’ve expanded to include more non-mystery. And some of my posts (most frequently those on Janice Hallett’s novels) frequently pop up in Google’s top 5 search results – which is not something I would ever have thought I could write.

And I’ve learned so much, too! I’ve learned to write – about what I read, and about my own thoughts. I’ve learned to stage photos (to some degree, I certainly could improve there). Then I’ve learned a lot more about blogs and websites and social media as the nano-est of influencers. There’s been so much to pick up about book publishing and my own taste in reading. And I’ve learned to love to read even more, which is not something I thought was possible. (Somehow I’ve already read 147 books this year?)

On that more fundamental level, too, this blog has been immensely successful in its goals. By throwing myself into a more structured hobby, I forced myself to make time for leisure. And once I had learned that habit, I was suddenly able to apply it everywhere – making time for friends, for family, for new adventures. Somehow, I ow have room for weekly game nights, for an annual murder mystery party, for weekends spent baking cookies with friends. The trip I took to Europe this year (chronicled here!) was my first extended vacation as a working adult – and that could not have happened without this blog.

All of this to say – I know I’ve posted less this year. Last year, I’d written 80 posts; this year, it’s only 57. And I keep wishing that I had more time carved away for writing about all that I’ve read (maybe some more lists are due…). But that has been, in many ways, a reflection of how successful this blog has been, across all my hopes for it.

What’s next?

Looking ahead, I do want and need to get back to a more structured way of engaging with my reading. I’m hoping you can expect something more like a post a week from me over the next few months, as I figure out (once again) how to rebalance my time. I’ve been feeling immense writer’s block these last few months, perhaps because I’ve worried that I’m letting people down with my irregular posting schedule. And yet, as soon as I can get myself to sit down and type, the words come flooding out again.

So my goal over the next while is slow and steady, and perhaps a return to structure. I’m not sure what the next year of writing holds, but I’m excited to take that journey together.

Until next post – stay cozy, and stay curious!
❤️,
🦉