This year, we launched a feature highlighting some of our local bloggers and influencers. A few weeks ago I was invited to an event in Lancaster where I was thrilled to meet Christine Halliday.
Name: Christine Halliday
Blog/handle: Wild Precious Now; @wildpreciousnow
Hometown: Lancaster, Pa.
Focus: Story & Wonder (inspiration, travel, lifestyle, & Lancaster)
Favorite bev: AM: Passenger Coffee’s Keystone Latte, PM: Yard’s Pynk, Iron Hill’s Lunchbox Hero or a classic Gin & Tonic
The beginning
How/when did you start blogging?
Gosh! I’ve been writing/blogging for all of my adult life. I’ve had poetry blogs, education blogs, parenting blogs, philosophical blogs, travel blogs, local blogs, you name it, I’ve written it, and for the longest time, only my closest friends and family were reading any of it.
I guess things started getting serious when I began blogging about the idea of “having it all, some of the time.” When my kids were little, I blogged about our weekend adventures in and around Lancaster and some of the stories we uncovered just by slowing down and talking to people. That led to me writing for Things to To Do Lancaster, which eventually led me to freelancing for Fig Lancaster, both of which really connected me to my love of my hometown community and especially the people and places that make it such a great place to live and create.
Through that community, I got connected with friends at Make Films who turned me on to the idea of producing video content from my writing, and with that, Wild Precious Now was born about 3 years ago as a blog and elevated vlog about making the most of the moments you’re in. I’m honestly still floored that people read, watch and know us (our video content is on facebook, youtube and the Lancaster cable channel 66), and I’m dedicated to using our platform to spread inspiration, joy, wonder, and some Lancaster love!
What inspires you?
EVERYTHING! No, really, I find so much inspiration, wonder and gratitude in STORY and I find story in everything. I’ve adopted the term “story-breather” from a favorite children’s book author because that title makes so much sense to me. I’m convinced that if we breathe in each other’s stories, they become a part of us. I’m sure that when we breathe out our own stories, and offer our truth to the world, we are opening our hearts up to vulnerability, learning and connecting with others.
I really believe that we will find our way to each other and navigate out of dark places through sharing our stories. I’m inspired seeing how people find connection with one another, find belonging in unexpected places, discover learning where there used to be fear and curiosity replacing apathy, all because of a beautifully told and generously shared story.
Day in the life
What is a typical day like for you?
From late August to early June, my Monday-Fridays are spent making magic and exploring wonder in my 2nd Grade Classroom.
I have a daughter, Alana who is a freshman in high school and a son, Connor, who just started middle school, so most of my evenings are spent juggling their homework and my homework, family time, dinner, shuffling to dance, baseball, youth group, and theater, and so I try to schedule most of our WPN meetings and content creation sessions while the kids are otherwise occupied.
At about 9:30pm when the kids are in bed, I hang out with my husband Andy, lesson plan, write posts, or binge a good TV show.
My weekends are a delicate balance of resting and creating, exploring and connecting. It’s an evolving dance and a constant act of prioritizing and reminding myself that every “yes” to one thing, is a “no” to something else.
Playing faves
What do you enjoy most from blogging?
I LOVE that I know the background stories of so many people and places around me. It makes me feel so connected and grateful.
I’m also so humbled by the ways people have shared their stories with us through social media and in real life, and my life is so much richer because of the people and stories that I’ve gotten to know through Wild Precious Now.
When people stop me around town to talk about something we’ve made and shared and how it changed their perspective or motivated them to try something new, that absolutely humbles and floors me every single time!
All about those #goals
What do you hope to accomplish through your work?
Wild, Precious Now is about sharing how to make wonder, curiosity, gratitude, and belonging a lifestyle. We believe in story as the medium to that kind of growth and becoming, so really, we just hope to keep building a community of other human-becomings who want to breathe stories with us.
We want to use our platform to elevate stories about people who are making a difference and celebrate the places and experiences that add wonder and joy to the world.
That sounds really ambitious when I read it back, but mostly we hope to walk through this world with our hearts and eyes open, to allow ourselves to be changed and wonderstruck by the stories around us, and capture some of that to share with you.
Side Hustle
What’s your day job, if applicable? What role does it have in what you do?
Aside from being a mom, my day job is my most important role.
I’m a 2nd grade teacher at the Milton Hershey School, and that job isn’t just a job to me, it’s one of the great loves of my life.
For 14 years I’ve had a poem by Mary Oliver as part of my classroom culture and posed her question to my students: “Tell me what you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” That question morphed into the mantra that fuels my blog and channel.
I also met my BFF Joel (aka the @Nowtographer) through co-teaching at MHS. We became friends at work 11 years ago and through our friendship and shared passions for kids, education, creating and story, I rediscovered a love for visual storytelling that inspired me to add vlogging to blogging, and eventually had us joining forces outside of the classroom to create content for Wild Precious Now together.
I get to be a part of the story of each of my students as they learn and grow through the school year and then move on to make a difference in their world…so for me, it’s all interconnected.
At work I’m Mrs. Halliday, at home I’m Mom, and around Lancaster and across the internet, most people have come to know me as Christine from Wild Precious Now.
Follow Faves
Who are your favorite IG/blogger accounts to follow (local or otherwise)?
Local (too many to list them all, so I try to send love to my faves through instagram story tags often!)
- @Nowtographer my bff, partner in WPN and behind the lens of all our best shots!
- @shantellrobertson
- @sarabozich
- @mommyinheels
- @TymbrelChyatee
- @harmony_joy
- @moriahchaune
- So so so many others! (Follow everyone I’m following, truly!)
Otherwise:
- @Glennondoyle
- @bradmontague
- @gabbybernstein
- @MariAndrew
Be sure to follow Christine’s vlog to be inspired to make the most of every moment!
