The last few days have been a case study in living softer. A week ago I decided I wanted to try out a new format for Be Softer, so I installed some new software. Unfortunately, this had the unforeseen effect of taking down the current blog! Sorry if you were checking in for up-to-the-minute news in being softer!

As I was about to head out of town for a few days when it happened, there was literally nothing for me to do except accept that the site would be down for that time. And it’s taken me another couple of days to fix the issue.

But I resisted the urge to freak out. In fact, my first reaction was laughter at the enforced softness after my trying to squeeze in “just one more thing” right before travelling. One of my realizations over the week has been that Be Softer isn’t a site that requires urgency on anyone’s part. Me stressing out about posting daily clearly is not part of the Be Softer way.

And I know all too well what it is to have an RSS feeder that is constantly letting me know that I have over 1000 messages to read from blogs about decluttering and minimizing and simplifying! I don’t need to add to someone else’s “must” list!

So I will indeed be reorganizing the site over the coming weeks to create a space for resources and ideas, that can be accessed on an as-desired basis, rather than required daily reading (and posting). In the meantime, I will continue to post ideas and links here in the blog, and still welcome your feedback. And I’ll create a forum to make the site a place where everyone can share their knowledge, experience and soft places and people they’ve come across.

Thanks for sharing in this experiment with me!

I’ve been working on the site for a few weeks now, but I had intended to officially launch on Tuesday. I guess that was an appropriately soft deadline!

I got derailed early in the week by travel gone amuck and although I was tempted to revert to my old harder/faster/stronger ways, I realized that rushing around, stressing out and pulling an all-nighter wasn’t exactly going to be walking the talk of Being Softer with myself! I also realized that this was a self-imposed deadline (as so many are, really), and thus, flexible if I could let go of the need to line up with a random calendar date!

So here we are. I’ll be here five days a week, offering suggestions and stories about how to be kinder to yourself, to others, and to the planet. Please take a look around and tell me what you think! I welcome your comments, suggestions, encouragement and ideas! (To learn more about why I built this site see What’s the Idea Behind Be Softer?

To celebrate the official launch, I am giving away a Soft Selection of goodies to one lucky new reader! On September 10, a name will be drawn randomly from people who have commented on this (or any) post or subscribed to the newsletter. (or who drop me a line to say they’ve subscribed to the site via RSS or email.) You can get an extra entry by tweeting and/or linking to the site on your blog!

The Soft Selection Prize Pack includes:

	Softy Blanket and Pillow Better than the Snuggie!
	Organic Cotton Toe Sox! Grey or Pink!
	Yummy All-Natural Black Berry Vanilla Body Butter Slather on yourself or a friend!

Good luck, enjoy the site, and have a soft day!