Today is my little baby blog’s 1 year birthday.
Yep, one year ago today I sat down and tapped out Story of My Life’s very first post (it’s really dumb… you probably shouldn’t read it), and though I’d kept a few other blogs before this one, for some reason I stuck with it this time.
Before one year ago, I was often plagued with writer’s block or simply didn’t have the time to devote to blogging. I loved to write, but I wasn’t content with my very small audience of, oh, my mom and grandma. To be honest with you, I wanted to reach more than just a handful of family members and friends. Isn’t that most writers’ greatest dream, anyway? To be read?
And so I started commenting on other blogs, hoping to make some friendships. And when people moseyed on over here and left me nice comments saying they enjoyed something I wrote, it lit a fire under my butt. And from then on, I never really had serious writer’s block again (besides a few patches of it here and there, which is normal).
I started to look at the world around me through different eyes. Why should I EVER have nothing to write about? Life is so full of adventure and useful lessons you might share with others. And if your life DOESN’T seem to be very interesting or “full of adventure?” Well then you go out and make shit happen. Oddly, this silly little blog has been a major motivating factor for me, to get out of my comfort zone and do things. Experience things. Learn things. Or at least look at the every day happenings of my life in a new light. Because life itself, in its purest form—in the day to day things we do that may not be particularly riveting—it’s all still beautiful, and it’s what unites us. Blogging, and reading about the lives and thoughts of others, helps you feel so much less alone. Like we’re all in this together.
There have certainly been times when I’ve questioned whether continuing this blog is the right thing. I’ve asked myself if having a large following is really what I want. It’s always been important to me to reply to comments and connect with readers, but it’s becoming more and more impossible, and I hate that.
There have been times when I’ve received such ugly comments that I questioned whether or not I have thick enough skin to allow myself to be a target here, to be vulnerable to what anyone and everyone has to say about me.
But I’ve decided that it’s all worth it. It’s all a big crazy learning process, and I will have to tweak things in the coming year to manage my time better, but right now it doesn’t make sense to give up on something that brings me so much joy. And when I receive your emails and comments? Even if I don’t reply to the comments every time? They still mean an incredible lot to me. They’re like fuel for the fire, and remind me why I love blogging so much.
So thank you to those of you who’ve been with me from the start, and thank you to all of you who’ve come on board along the way. The last year has been amazing, and you know what? I have this funny little feeling that the coming year will be even better.
Everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise. The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.- Sylvia Plath
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