merkal2005: Hi Zura. You a mother, grandmother, mixed media artist, writer, journaler and dreamer. How is your life going?

zurabeth: My life is crazy wonderful! I am so grateful for all the people in my life, both online and in real life. I am blessed to have the time to create art and hang out on my website with all sorts of smart, inspiring people. Blogging has opened up a whole new world to me.


merkal2005: In your blog you wrote you made a big U turn at your fifties to live a more pleasing life for you. What are your suggestions to us in that respect? How can we live a better life?

zurabeth: I believe that many of us, especially Americans, are so focused on what we produce (jobs, money, clean houses, better houses, bigger cars) that we lose sight of what's in our heart. As children, our only goal is to learn and have fun. I think that adults need to remember what that was like and find a balance that allows them to succeed in life but have fun all along the way.

Just before my 50th birthday I read this statement, "You live what you believe." That was like getting hit in the head with a sledge hammer for me. What I was living at that time was so far from what I really believe, and I knew that I didn't want to live the second half of my life the way I'd lived the first.

Letting go of things that don't have eternal value frees us up to be real, bring joy back into our lives, and most of all to be available to the people in our lives. It takes time to just sit with friends, to be really present. Finding that time will bring rich rewards to both you and the people you care about.


merkal2005: When did you discover blogging? How popular is it?

zurabeth: I just recently celebrated the one year anniversary of my blog. I have about 50 subscribers at this time, but I've spent the past month doing networking and introducing some new features in my blog so I'm optimistic that the numbers will be growing.

I am currently working on some interviews that will be podcasts and some videos of various art techniques. I think those will be popular for my readers.


merkal2005: You have a very good blod design. Did you design it by yourself?

zurabeth: Thank you. I used a Wordpress template and customized it. I did create the art for the design.


merkal2005: How do you see the future of blogging? Do you have any suggestions to newcomers?

zurabeth: I've been online since the early 90's so I know that things will change. That's the one constant on the web. Podcasts (audio) and video seem to be gaining popularity, possibly because these busy people don't want to take time to read :) I think that an interface like Twitter may have some impact on blogging as well. Everyone seems to want instant, quick access to information.

To newcomers to blogging, I would say be yourself in your blog. If you try to present a persona that's not authentic your readers will not be as likely to trust you. The best comments I've received on my blog posts have been when I was honest about something in myself that others might not have had the courage to admit publicly. If you are open and honest with your readers, you will gain their trust. That is critical, in my opinion, if you are trying to sell something to them.