Dana Butler
A Friday Intro
From January 22, 2021

Hi friends! Lots of new faces here (👋🏼) so thought I’d Friday-introduce myself today — which, if I’m honest, is actually an opportunity to tell my new friends a bit about myself, while hopefully telling those of you who’ve walked with me here awhile something you might not already know.
Such as: I am both struggling and not struggling with getting older.
If you’re newer ‘round here, it might be news to you that I hit 40 this past November.
Also I very recently colored my hair dark brown (oh, oops — it’s black😂) in order to help my 7-year-old daughter understand I think *her* dark brown hair is stunning.
If you look back a little in my Insta, you’ll see my hair was blonde till not long ago. For years.
True thing: I am struggling to see myself as beautiful with dark hair. Even struggling to see myself as myself. 🤷🏻♀️
Slight subject change but also not: Eye-wrinkles, no small amount of gray in my roots, and suddenly needing glasses.
These changes disorient me, too. Like my self-image has been tossed haphazardly into the laundry and I’m not sure how it’s gonna come out. Shrunk? Faded? Just fine? To be determined.
So. What is this? A mini-midlife-crisis?
Meh. I dunno. Because also:
I am enjoying myself like never before. Meaning: I’m appreciating my personality, my creativity, my relationships with my hubby and kids, the way I make my family laugh. I love poetry, drink it in like I drink in silence and stillness and a warm fire late at night. Or an old Jack Johnson album. I love journaling and connecting deeply with soul friends, and sharing how I see—woven with my heart in words—here in this space.
I love how you all give me glimpses into yourselves and how you help me see myself more clearly.
There is so much deep sweetness in life and so much I truly dig about how God’s forming me. So much that it kind of makes the surface stuff... well, just surface.
All that said: whether you’re new here or you’ve known me forever, I sure am grateful for your companionship in this space. Thank you. ♥️