Here it is! My blog/website/foray into online publishing. I have tried to sit down and write this first entry countless times over the past several months. My idea for ReinventingRebecca.com started to take shape last fall, and I began to lay the groundwork—registering domain names, researching content management systems and blog applications, bouncing ideas off smart and supportive people—but I lost a lot of momentum when several life changes happened around the same time, including a move and a new job. Those two changes, specifically, demanded my full attention, and this idea took a back burner to the day-in and day-out. Which is kind of funny, now, since I envision this as a place where I will write about some of those life changes.

Why “reinvention”?
Over the past few years I have become fascinated with the idea of personal reinvention, which I see as the remaking of oneself either by choice or in response to uncontrollable circumstances. The word came to me as I was writing job applications after a painful layoff in 2009. In job applications, I wrote about wanting to reinvent my career and explore new options (even though what I really wanted was for things to stay the same). I knew that reacting to my circumstances with determination was the right approach, but it was difficult to feel truly determined at the time.

And I did reinvent my career—at least, I’m working on it. After that job loss I began exploring different types of workplaces and cultures, and I learned a lot about myself and the ways I want to work. At the same time, I learned about how I want to be. I see this process as ongoing, and I believe that writing about it publicly helps me stay accountable to those goals and desires.

What I want this site to be
Reinvention happens on a spectrum, I believe, from small adjustments that nevertheless leave an impact to major, whole-life change. Perhaps it’s obvious, but I’d like to to emphasize that I am interested in positive change, whatever that means to the person making it.

Here’s where ReinventingRebecca.com enters. I find that I connect with others and learn best through personal stories. I am inspired by people who embody qualities like adaptability, initiative, ingenuity, and determination. I suspect that these qualities, among others, are common elements in successful change, but I want to test my theory by gathering stories and sharing them here. Ultimately, I want to arrive at a definition of reinvention that is both inclusive of many types of change and attainable for those who are ready to reinvent themselves or some aspect of their lives.

I plan to write about my own goals and changes, but I really want this site to focus on the stories of its readers and supporters. To that end, I will interview people who exemplify the qualities of reinvention. I’ll review books about change and link to stories of reinvention, and I will celebrate positive changes, big and small.

If you are a reinventor or have a story to share, please get in touch with me. I would love to celebrate your accomplishment here.