What I've Learnt In Two Years Of Blogging

Happy Tuesday! I hope you've all had a lovely weekend, whatever you did! I spent mine taking photographs for my blog and binge watching Hemlock Grove (all because I'm a little obsessed with Bill Skarsgard after watching the new IT movie at the cinema. Sorry Alexander!). I was supposed to have today's post up much sooner but so many things have gotten in the way; so here it finally is! It was my 2nd bloggiversary on the 10th of this month and if you didn't catch my post on the day, you can see it here. It's been a wonderful journey of new friendships and self-discovery, and I've certainly learnt a few things along the way about blogging and the blogger community. I wanted to share them with you guys. I hope you enjoy reading!

1. Blog about whatever you want! You don't need to stick to a particular theme; people will come back if your personality shrines through in your words! Sure, there are lots of niche blogs that are dedicated to specific interests or hobbies, like beauty blogs or film review blogs, but it's up to you what you share on your own little corner of the internet :)

2. Getting involved in twitter chats is really important for making new friends and networing your blog. There are so many chats all run by different groups and each chat usually as a different topic. There's twitter chats going on every day of the week, and I definitely recommend getting involved, whether you're a blogger or just enjoy reading blogs. (Are you following me over on twitter yet?)

3. A good photo editing website will become your new best friend!

4. Even if you are anxious about posting something personal on your blog (Believe me, I understand. I get anxious before posting anything and everything!), they are a great way for you to connect with your readers and can be really helpful for others who might feel the same/have had similar experiences to you. The same goes for sharing posts about more controversial  or taboo topics, you can use your platform to help get people talking or at least thinking about those topics and that's a great thing!

5. If you can't blog, don't. Don't force yourself. You do you! Take a break when you need to and don't feel pressured to get content created if you are feeling ill or tired or if your mood is low, whatever the reason is, put your well-being first and take all the time you need. People will be there when you come back; they'll understand. 

6. Comparing yourself and your blog to others will be your nemesis! It's important though to remember that we are all unique in our own way and your blog is a little piece of you, so it's okay to be different because there will always be kindred spirits who relate to you and love the same things you do, and therefore will enjoy readng your content. I know it's tough, but don't let numbers and stats make you feel bad. You are awesome and so is your blog!

7.  On your blogging journey, you will master the art of getting into awkward positions to do the photography for your posts, haha! Tip: don't make the same mistakes that I do, standing on the edge of chairs or beds, falling off and injuring yourself! 

8. The blogger community has its negatives sometimes, but it also includes some of the most supportive and amazing people you'll ever meet! I have met so many fabulous people through blogging and there is always someone there when you need to vent, someone to cheer you up, someone you can relate to. This is especially the case for me when it comes to the spoonie blogger community. I don't feel alone in my struggles anymore and my fellow spoonies offer such a big support network. Thankyou guys ♥

9. Through blogging, I have personally learnt to have more faith in my writing abilities. I've always enjoyed writing. English was one of my favourite subjects at school and I have been a hobbyist writer of short stories since my teens, but my anxiety forever gets me feeling insecure about my work. I constantly manage to convince myself that what I've written sounds rubbish and that no one is going to enjoy it. However, sharing my posts has made me more confident in myself and this is a big thing for me! 

10. The most obvious thing that you learn is that blogging is very hard work! I had an idea that it would be difficult with all the various elements that go into each post, but you don't get just how much work is involved before you start your own blog. Each blog post requires hours of planning and preparation, proof-reading and spell-checking is a pain and taking photographs can be too! I wouldn't really change a thing though! I love blogging; the pros outweigh the 'cons' and I love looking back on my blog posts, reading through memories and sharing my interests with others :)

I definitely have a lot more to experience when it comes to blogging and I'm really looking forward to what the next few years will bring. I hope this post has been fun to read for my fellow bloggers who can relate to the things I've mentioned, and that it's been helpful for those of my readers who are considering starting their own blog. Here's to my 2nd year of blogging and many more years to come!

Thankyou for reading!

♥

 What's one lesson that you've learnt from blogging?

Or what have you learnt about blogging from blog reading?

Blogging Worries

Today's post is going to be a more personal one and has been inspired by the way I've been feeling lately. It's normal to feel a little anxious when it comes to our blogs, because of all the time and effort that goes into planning the posts, writing them, taking all the photographs and editing them, all the promoting we do and hours that go into the design and overall appearance of our blogs. We all love blogging and are proud of our hard work, and due to this, it's a given that many of us will get nervous about certain aspects of blogging. Lately, I've been struggling with my mental health which means that my anxiety is at an all-time high and this affects the way I feel when blogging. Blogging when dealing with anxiety already has it's challenges, especially if I'm feeling particular panicky that day. All the little insecurities and worries that usually come along with blogging seem to be on overdrive. In this post, I wanted to share with you all some of the things that I get anxious about and hopefully, if you are also feel the same, you'll know you're not alone and that almost everyone will worry about these things from time to time.

(1) Worrying about the way the blog post reads. 

I worry about how the blog post sounds, and whether my spelling and grammar is all correct. I proofread my posts so many times, and even repeatedly read it aloud to myself. I'm worry that it doesn't flow well, and whether my writing style is one which makes my posts enjoyable to read and makes you all want to read on.  It's not a massive problem if I have a few mispellings or a missing comma here or there, but at the time it feels so important. 

(2) Worrying about whether my posts are interesting. 

I worry about the content of my posts, because I want so much for them to be interesting and fun to read. I love that there are people that appreciate all of the little things in my life that make me happy and who have similar hobbies to my own but I still worry sometimes because it can be hard not to compare your blog to other blogs and worry that your life is not as interesting as other peoples. 

(3) Worrying when I write posts about my experiences with mental health.

One of the reasons I wanted to start blogging was so that I could be open about my mental health and share my story with others, and also meet lots of supportive people to help me along on my journey to recovery. Although the blogging community has been amazing in making me feel like I can open up about my struggles and has helped me a lot, especially through reading posts from others who struggle with MH, I still get worried when I blog about anxiety and depression. It's hard to shake the nerves I have about being open about MH after years of bottling up how I felt. Growing up, I was always the sort of person to put my friends before myself, to make sure they were all okay and be the strong one of the group. Even though I've been experiencing depression since I was 14 years old, it was something I didn't talk about with anyone until around a year ago. All the stigma surrounding MH in society really influenced my decision to keep quiet about my struggles and not seek help sooner, and so even now there is always that voice in my head that makes me worry about what people think about me. 

(4) Worrying about what others will think of me

This is something that a lot of people struggle with; it's normal to worry about how others perceive us especially when we are sharing personal things about our lives for so many people to see. It's difficult to not compare ourselves to others, even more so if we struggle with our self-esteem. For a long time, I struggled a lot with my self-esteem, I was bullied at school for being plus size and this really affected the way I thought about myself. I'm a lot better now than I was as a teenager but I still have those days when I feel down about myself. Another thing that my anxiety affects is my ability to talk to people; some days I struggle to chat to people and I worry that they will think I don't want to talk to them. I'm actually a really talkative person once I get to know someone and I'm trying really hard to get over this hurdle. I've been getting more involved with twitter chats and I'm quite proud of myself :) 

(My best friend suggested that I should draw a cute little nervous cartoon, so here's what I did. I'm not the best at drawing, but I really enjoy it and I got a C in GCSE Art so I can't be too bad hahaha).

 Thankyou for reading! I hope you all enjoyed today's post.

 ♥

What are some of the worries you have when blogging?