Baggage Reclaim: Dumping Relationship Baggage and Dodgy Men - Part 2
In June 2004, she describes going out on a "dodgy but very funny date with PC Plod." He was a "nice guy." And that was a problem. Natalie wasn't interested. Fueled by her frustration, she decided to write about it. She started her first blog, When a Woman's Fed Up, writing under the pseudonym NML, and she's been blogging ever since.
"One of the best things I've ever done is write my original personal blog and then Baggage Reclaim – it forced me to look at myself and recognize the disconnect between my thoughts and actions," Natalie says.
She launched Baggage Reclaim in September 2005 and stopped being anonymous in early 2006, but Natalie still signs her blog Natalie Lue/NML since she used her pen name for nearly two years.
Now, at least once a week, she takes her beaten up, but well-loved, 13-inch Macbook computer to an Italian café that's within walking distance of her house and works from there, writing about dating and relationships. She's an expert, a title she's earned through years of pain and tears – and that's exactly what she wants to save other women from doing.
Aside from the occasional trips into central London, where she'll work from a Starbucks, and her minutes walk to the Italian café, most days Natalie works from home, a house in Surrey, England that she shares with her fiancé and their two daughters, Nia and Saria, ages 1 and 3. On the days Natalie has to get Saria ready for preschool, she can be found approving comments for Baggage Reclaim and sipping on a cuppa tea, most likely her favorite – English breakfast tea with medium milk and two sugars.
The guy drama is gone, but her life is still busy between planning a wedding, being a mum of two, and running a business. Plus, she has two eBooks out: The No Contact Rule and Mr. Unavailable and the Fallback Girl, which is planned to be in print soon.
Lately, Natalie has been taking her online presence and personality into public. Back in November she held her first workshops ever in London, where she expanded on the concepts found in her eBooks and blogs. Natalie says, "The sense of sisterhood was inspiring." So inspiring that she recently held another workshop in New York City and more workshops in other locations are already in progress.
"The same wonderful thing that happens to people when they discover my site, happens when you're together in a room," Natalie says. "You get validation that it's not your imagination. You're not going crazy. It's not 'unique' and you haven't 'made' them [the guys] this way."
Natalie says the workshops operate a lot like the online conversations that she and her readers have with each other on Facebook and on the Baggage Reclaim site. Back-and-forth comments like this are common:
Alison Ho: "Audrey, I know he would've kept everything a secret and would've kept me hanging on, whilst he decided which girl he 'liked more.' I just had a wee panic the other day and hopefully won't have any more. Hopefully he'll respect me enough not to flaunt this new girl in front of me…"
Audrey Mulcahy, a frequent commenter, replies: "Alison, I've had guys string me along in the past and it's one of the worst feelings in the world. And while they were stringing me along, my life was on pause, despite my best tries not to do that. If he's a total assclown, he'll possibly flaunt her in front of you and if he does that, he is shining a light on who he is and it's not a good light."
Natalie tries to respond to as many comments and questions as she can, but sometimes the other newly empowered women need to step in.
So go ahead, feel free to visit Natalie's blog or Facebook page. Sit down, grab a cuppa tea, and take a load off. Ditch those dodgy dating habits and rediscover what matters to you.
Collegiettes™, what was your worst date ever? How about the worst gift? How many bad date anecdotes do you have? How much relationship baggage do you need to get rid of?
"One of the best things I've ever done is write my original personal blog and then Baggage Reclaim – it forced me to look at myself and recognize the disconnect between my thoughts and actions," Natalie says.
She launched Baggage Reclaim in September 2005 and stopped being anonymous in early 2006, but Natalie still signs her blog Natalie Lue/NML since she used her pen name for nearly two years.
Now, at least once a week, she takes her beaten up, but well-loved, 13-inch Macbook computer to an Italian café that's within walking distance of her house and works from there, writing about dating and relationships. She's an expert, a title she's earned through years of pain and tears – and that's exactly what she wants to save other women from doing.
Aside from the occasional trips into central London, where she'll work from a Starbucks, and her minutes walk to the Italian café, most days Natalie works from home, a house in Surrey, England that she shares with her fiancé and their two daughters, Nia and Saria, ages 1 and 3. On the days Natalie has to get Saria ready for preschool, she can be found approving comments for Baggage Reclaim and sipping on a cuppa tea, most likely her favorite – English breakfast tea with medium milk and two sugars.
The guy drama is gone, but her life is still busy between planning a wedding, being a mum of two, and running a business. Plus, she has two eBooks out: The No Contact Rule and Mr. Unavailable and the Fallback Girl, which is planned to be in print soon.Lately, Natalie has been taking her online presence and personality into public. Back in November she held her first workshops ever in London, where she expanded on the concepts found in her eBooks and blogs. Natalie says, "The sense of sisterhood was inspiring." So inspiring that she recently held another workshop in New York City and more workshops in other locations are already in progress.
"The same wonderful thing that happens to people when they discover my site, happens when you're together in a room," Natalie says. "You get validation that it's not your imagination. You're not going crazy. It's not 'unique' and you haven't 'made' them [the guys] this way."
Natalie says the workshops operate a lot like the online conversations that she and her readers have with each other on Facebook and on the Baggage Reclaim site. Back-and-forth comments like this are common:
Alison Ho: "Audrey, I know he would've kept everything a secret and would've kept me hanging on, whilst he decided which girl he 'liked more.' I just had a wee panic the other day and hopefully won't have any more. Hopefully he'll respect me enough not to flaunt this new girl in front of me…"
Audrey Mulcahy, a frequent commenter, replies: "Alison, I've had guys string me along in the past and it's one of the worst feelings in the world. And while they were stringing me along, my life was on pause, despite my best tries not to do that. If he's a total assclown, he'll possibly flaunt her in front of you and if he does that, he is shining a light on who he is and it's not a good light."
Natalie tries to respond to as many comments and questions as she can, but sometimes the other newly empowered women need to step in.So go ahead, feel free to visit Natalie's blog or Facebook page. Sit down, grab a cuppa tea, and take a load off. Ditch those dodgy dating habits and rediscover what matters to you.
Collegiettes™, what was your worst date ever? How about the worst gift? How many bad date anecdotes do you have? How much relationship baggage do you need to get rid of?
