The thought hit me at 5am this morning.

I haven’t written a blog in over five months. FIVE MONTHS.

Yet, I’m still here. I’m currently here in front of my laptop awaken early in the morning with my mind set to release this blog. I’m still blessed to have a brand and website that is literally running itself and I’m still amazed when I look at my results even during my hiatus. I don’t have a particular reason why I took a break from blogging…it just happened in a way, a way that I also have to appreciate.

Since the pandemic, my life has changed and I’m pretty sure everyone can relate to that one! I’m still trying to adjust back to “normalcy” or whatever we are calling it these days lol, but I really had to take a step back and figure out what I really wanted to do with my life and my vision. My heart still has love for writing and blogging, but I didn’t have the energy or head space to accomplish it these past couple of months. At first, I beat myself up about it and I told myself to just suck it up and keep writing. But it was hard to do that when my heart wasn’t completely in it…so I showed myself grace and took the much needed break to focus on other things. Basically, the other things were my job , other brand ideas I’m trying to cook up, spending more time with family and friends, and rediscovering myself. Of course, I came across some bumps in the road and some minor distractions, but that’s a part of me being human.

Even though I am still a full time entrepreneur, I’m still currently employed with my job that I have been with over the last five years. I love my job, but most importantly I love the handful of people that is always motivating me and asking about my work. God works in mysterious ways. I could be having the worst day or just feeling unmotivated, and he will send someone to give me the message that I need to hear. His timing is always perfect and always on time when I need to hear it the most. As far as my spiritual walk, it was a rollercoaster! God was giving me ideas back to back that he wanted me to manifest and work on, but doubt and so many questions were still in the back of my head.

“How do I get started? I don’t know the first step!”

“How am I going to pay for this? I don’t have money to start a new business right now!”

“What if it fails? What if I mess it up?”

Yesterday I was reading my friend’s post on Facebook about her striving business, and her caption was “my small business will become my big business one day.” As soon as I commented it, the scripture Habakkuk 2:2 popped up in my head like a lightbulb. I am a writer, so I truly believe in the power of manifestation through the power of the tongue and also writing it down. No matter how organized or successful I am, I always write down my goals and dreams. It’s part of the way I manifest the things I want in life…and let me tell you, its real! One thing I have learned over the years as an author and entrepreneur is you have to manifest what you want even when you can’t see it. Even the days where you don’t know how you’re going to do it. The days when you feel doubt. The days when you feel lazy. The days when you want to give up. The days when you feel like you’re alone and no one is in your corner. The days where you feel like your brand is overly saturated and no one will notice you. Despite all those hard days you may feel, there will also be good days where all those negative thoughts don’t even matter when you’re following your purpose.

My purpose is going for everything God has for me no matter how long it takes. Before the pandemic, me going to film school was in the works, but it had to come to a halt because of Cov-id. Now I’m ready to put my big girl pants on and enter that stage of my life. Writing is one of my passions, so I’m really trying to pursue it in a bigger way. Lately, I also been leaning towards more lifestyle & fashion blogging! I love to thrift and I enjoy every moment when I get a chance to do it. I dabbed into it a little last month, but starting a thrift brand is definitely on my goals this year! So stay tuned for that. The thing I love most about thrifting is the DIVERSITY and the adventure behind it! Some days, I might not find anything that catches my eyes. And some days, I may rack up on so many hidden gems I find in stores. The possibilities of mixing and matching outfits are endless!

I am also currently working on two books that I push to release this year. I am not rushing the process because rushing it won’t get me to the place I want to be. I also want to get my podcast back up and running! The Zip Code was something I started over a year ago, but I wasn’t consistent with it and I didn’t give it time or space to grow with my brand. Now I’m ready to change that! In the meantime, check out this episode of The Zip Code!

This is also the year for oprahzipbradford.com to form in full expansion! My goal is to not only have more written blogs, but the main goal is to include live interviews as well. It’s been on my mind for a while and my readers have been encouraging me to do it, so its time to do it. Through everything, I will show myself grace.

To my readers and the people who have been following my blog, you always have a special place in my heart and I appreciate you. Thanks for staying down with me, and helping me bring my words to life.

Until next time,

Zip.