I’m a passionate about normal people intentionally creating a unique life that they love. The Creative Life interviews are a place to dive into the stories of people in the process of creating inspired lives for themselves- whatever that means to them.

Diana is an incredibly talented blogger & photographer I’ve been lucky enough to become friends with. She’s one of those people who’d just downright fascinating. Her photography is stunning and quirky, she’s always exploring and sharing her adventures, she’s queen of the bookworms, and is blogging through the loss of her sweet son Max with the love and faith of a mama lion. She’s got heart, guts and talent to spare – and I’m thrilled to share a slice of her life with you today.

Please tell us about yourself and how started blogging at Our City Lights. What’s the story of how it’s grown over time into more of a part of your life? And how did Gadchick come to be?

My name is Diana, I’m a 32 year reader and blogger. Our City Lights began as a small LiveJournal diary 8 years ago, hoping to grow out of another less “immature” (ha!) LJ diary I grew out of. I moved to Blogger in 2007. The name is a blend of the famous City Lights Bookstore in San Francisco (a spot I would frequent most at a crucial part of my growth in life) and Umbrella’s City Lights, one of my favorite songs.

Gadchick is a dream come true for me. Just like anything else, it’s a constant work in progress, but I never thought I’d have a blog with a group of women who love technology, gadgets, all things “geek” as much as I do. It’s a blog with a magazine sublet themed each issue for information. I hope to one day have the resources to keep up as fast as technology moves to update the blog and magazine.

How did you start to discover your passion for writing & building community online? Was there a turning point or “Ah-Ha” moment for you, or has it always been part of your life?

I was first published as a writer in junior high with terrible angst-y poetry and later writing to cynical blog posts. Moving from LiveJournal to Blogger gave me a moment of clarity- writing didn’t have to be angry or sad, especially if I wasn’t! Sharing my writing from a toy camera to a visit to the beach with a community of people who loved writing and photography was refreshing. My “Ah-Ha” moment with community began with a photography project with Ana from On Dressing Up, we began a diptych photography project, Miles Apart, inspired by A Year of Mornings book. I was transitioning from a career, school, marriage, weight issues, and friendships all at once and sometimes the only thing that would get me out of bed in the morning was the photography project. I connected for the first time with a friend across the world and it was an opportunity to experience more amazing people in my heart.

Take us through a day in your life. What do you do in a typical morning/afternoon/evening? Or take us through an hour by hour run down, if you’re feeling like sharing :)

Mornings: After (now decaf) coffee, and quiet time, I tackle house chores. I worked from home for years and discovered having a clean home is giving a better quality of life for my family and I don’t mind sharing my mornings with some laundry and scrubbing.

Afternoon: I’ll be online reading emails, twitter, facebook and checking Instagram. I’ll take photos, tackle home projects, edit and prep for blogging. If I don’t have that gusto to blog, or energy for small house renovations, I’ll use my time to refresh and finish a book, try a new recipe, or just leave the house!

Evenings: I love reading blogs via email in the evening, catching up on TV shows, and making sure the house is prepped and ready to go for the next day.

How would your best friend describe you?

I asked two close friends who have seen the best and worst of me-

“Extremely caring. You always put everyone first! You are the type of person that would “give the shirt off your back” to a friend in need. Quiet amongst strangers, but not with friends. Funny, smart, and witty.”

“Bold and quiet. Not afraid to speak her mind–but in the most polite way possible…except when the person is annoying, but they had it coming. A dry and twisted sense of humor–the kind of person you don’t want to see a historical drama with because she’ll laugh where others will cry. The kind of person who loves giving gifts even to the people she can’t stand.”

Between blogging, social media & Gadchick it seems like you’re online a lot of the time. How do you guard yourself against burn out, or is that a problem for you?

I’m terrible with time management because of social media- it’s a huge and fun distraction and I wish I could be paid to just hit “like”, I’m a pro. There’s only three social media apps I limit myself on my phone- Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. On days I’m feeling pressured, I delete the apps from my phone. This happens about once every couple of weeks and it’s a small action that gives me huge results. When I put them back on my phone, I’m refreshed, inspired, and usually means I went outside for a few days!

Bloggers often walk a fine line between being judged for not being “authentic enough” or being criticised for what they do share of themselves. Do you have any advice for other bloggers about sharing their life in a way that’s true to who they are? You do it so well!

What I learned about sharing who you are, what you like, what you do, or any aspect of your life online, is people are going to judge you no matter what. The most important lesson I’ve learned from this is their opinion is none of your business. Unless it’s going to help you grow as a person or your blog, don’t mind the opinion of the masses.

Who are some of your role models?

My blogging role model would be Danielle Hampton from Sometimes Sweet. She’s blessed with vulnerability, a gift I wish I had. She is able to share herself, relate to readers, and still have a sense of privacy of who she is. I’m constantly fighting an imaginary wall- how much can I share without revealing too much? And is there anything wrong with revealing too much? The internet is more permanent than my tattoos and this year I’ve been more careful of what to post, tweet and update.

I also look up to Kam from Campfire Chic and (you!) Kyla Roma. After years of blogging, it’s not the cups of coffee that gets things done, I learned it’s the drive and I wonder how much more I can get done with their motivation!

What’s your current guilty pleasure?

I’m obsessed with couponing. My family eats organic foods and produce and there is such a thing as coupons for those, every Sunday I look forward to printing and cutting out coupons. Seriously. It’s a wild hobby.

How do you stay balanced, or get back to centre when life happens?

When life is stressful, it forces me to appreciate the small things. Good habits, staying groomed (uh, seriously, a shower and getting a manicure can go a long way), and fresh flowers are small gifts I can give to myself to calm down.

Can’t get enough of Diana?

Subscribe to her blog, follow her on Instagram and on facebook, or dive into her tech blog & magazine Gadchick

Let’s talk details – how do you balance what you share online? Do you struggling with putting yourself out there?

Hop into the comments and put yourself out there in a small way – I’ll share my perspective there too!