Wednesday, July 18, 2012

4 years in the blogging world


As of July 16th, I've been blogging for exactly 4 years.  So, let's talk blogging.

Once I started, it didn't take long for me to realize I didn't really have a "skill."  So I wanted to do it all.  I knew I wasn't good at it all but I wanted to make myself good at it all.  In my head, I thought I could be the awesome writer who professionally photographs all of my DIY crafts and creations in the kitchen.  And I wanted to be funny.  And I wanted to be cool.  And I wanted to wear awesome outfits.  

The truth is ... I'm not that crafty, I don't take good pictures, I do a mediocre job in the kitchen, and I live in t-shirts.  And I'm okay with that.  When I actually thought about doing all of those things, I got overwhelmed.  Those aren't even things I'm passionate about.  Someone has to be passionate about them, but I'm not that person.  I had to realize who I really am and what this blog was going to be.  I had to narrow it down.  Over time, I feel like I've finally done this.

The things I feel led to write about are my life, family, motherhood, baby stuff, and music.  It's much easier when you are walking in the shoes you feel comfortable walking in.

In blogging years, 4 years is evidently a long time.   A lot of really popular and successful blogs have been around fewer years than that.  It's easy to feel really, really behind.

But what is "success" in the blogging world anyway?  If it's having thousands of readers and feeling like people know who you are, then I am not successful.  If it's documenting my life, helping a couple people out, and enjoying the process of blogging, then I am successful.

It's just like anything else that we do in this world.  There is a tendency to constantly compare yourself to others.  Your worth seems to be based on how many pageviews you get each day, how many comments are left in each post, and how many "likes" you have on Facebook.

I've learned it's important to fight this.  Afterall, as a lifestyle blogger (a term I didn't even know existed until this blogger meeting), this is all about my life.  How can I possibly compare my real life to someone else's?  How does that even make sense?  I live my life and I write about it.  I'm the best person for that job.

At the end of the day though, I have this blog because I want to remember.  Even now, looking back at old posts, I think, Wow.  I'm so glad I wrote that down.  I would've never remembered!

So, here's to many more years of blogging ahead!

2 comments:

  1. 4 years... that's crazy! I'm like you - I've had my blogs for a while, but I feel like we didn't actually start consistently blogging until a lot more recently. And now it's like exactly what you said - I start to compare myself to other people... "I only have 40 fans on Facebook and other blogs have thousands..." But I totally agree with your take on it - you've found your niche and it's perfect for you.

    Honestly, I've had moments where I've laid in bed thinking, "what the heck is my blog about? Should it be about something else?" But I've come to the same conclusion - my blog is just about things I want it to be about. It's not a business - it's my life. And that is what it is, you know?

    Love being blogging buddies with you :)

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  2. Exactly! It's almost like the more you think about it, the less natural it becomes.

    Glad we're blogging friends too!

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