Well hi there... long time no see.
That feels like the understatement of the year. It has been 14 months since I have posted on this website... 14 very very long months that I won't even attempt to fully encapsulate in this post or we would be here for weeks. Life has been an absolute rollercoaster and I am still gaining my footing in the way my world is now, but one thing is absolutely certain - I have missed you, my little corner of the interwebs. I thought it was time I pop back in with a little life update.
StyledByKaylaXO has been a part of my identity for eleven and a half years. It has lasted longer than most things in my life and has been a constant love and source of joy and inspiration for me for all of those years. The community that continues to grow and change with me as I have gone from 17 year old High School student with big dreams and a lot to say, to a 29 year old woman who still very much has big dreams and probably A LOT MORE to say, is the absolute best part of my life. Through SBK I have been able to be 100% truly who I am and hopefully inspire many of you to live authentically in your own lives. And though it may not have been happening on line for a bit, I truly have been walking the walk in my life. My time offline has been incredibly transformative and I am so ready to be back and sharing it all with you!
The past 10 months specifically have been intense, in ways that eventually I will be able to put in words in a more complete and eloquent way, but for now will just say - they were fucking hard. There is no sugar coating it. I have been through the medical ringer since the end of last July and it has put so much in perspective for me. If you've been around for awhile, you know that the past decade has been quite the journey of figuring out my health and finding ways to cope with chronic illness in my life, but that ramped up to a new extreme when a freak infection landed me in the hospital for two weeks and changed my life (and leg) forever. Add to that multiple setbacks and re-infections, my second case of COVID (that then somehow led to long dormant pneumonia that reared it's head last month), and learning how to function with my new energy levels, and you have one hell of a year. It has impacted my career, my personal life, my hobbies, you name it. One day, I'll dive into it all, but for now just know - it's been tough, but I have been so much tougher.
Recovery is a difficult road and I know as we approach the one year anniversary this summer, I will hit some mental setbacks and struggles, because not only was this physically taxing, it was emotionally traumatizing and I know will continue to impact me long term. I still have moments of panic if something even feels slightly off (again, we can dive into that later). But it is so important to me that I regain some sense of normalcy in my life. I have fought so hard to get to the place I am at with my mental and physical health, my work and my relationships, that now it is time to add back in the final piece of the puzzle that is Kayla - YOU.
When talking recently (and also every month for the past six at least) with a friend about my healing process, something that I mentioned was that it felt like there was something big missing. I have gotten to a place where physically I can get through the day, I feel confident in my work and am ready to take on my favorite beast - summer camp, and I have really put attention into some of the relationships in my life that have faltered in recent times, but still I was not feeling completely content because something huge was missing - my content. Creating online content, whether it be for this blog or YouTube or Life, Styled or TikTok or even just Instagram, brings me so much joy! And while I have been maintaining my Instagram more or less, and post the occasional reel or TikTok, it hasn't been to the same extent that I have in the past, and simply, it wasn't enough. Creating consistent, high quality content is something that is so important to me and so I had to figure out a way to get back to it.
My motivation has slowly started to trickle back in. The short form video content picked up first - Reels vlogs and some ranty Bridgerton TikToks being the favorites right now, and slowly but surely I knew that I was ready to come back full force. This week, Life, Styled returns with TWO episodes. Right now, you're reading a blog post! I don't know what all this summer holds for StyledByKaylaXO, but I do know that I am ready to get to work and that is what matters most.
To those of you that have stuck around, thank you. To those of you that are new, welcome! I am so grateful that ANYONE takes the time to consume my content and hear what I have to say, and I hope you'll stick around. There is so much to come.
But for now, I'm just glad to be back and can't wait to talk to you all again very soon.
XO,
Kayla
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