My on-going fear when it comes to discussing my own blog is sounding totally insufferable. In the wonderful vast virtual galaxy of blogging, I barely register as a "particle", let alone a full on "star" or anything remotely notable. Nonetheless - and yes, I'm wincing this as I type it, just as much as you will when you read on - I'm still kinda...sorta...ugh, okay, proud of it.
Yes. I am proud. My face is all puckered up and I'm aware I may be wondering into "insufferable" territory with that statement, but this is the one creative endeavour I've stuck at without eventually giving up and accepting "these things should be left to Sylvia Plath".
That said, even with a moderately successful blog, I'm definitely still no Plath. I make awful spelling and grammar mistakes regularly. I look back on many posts and cringe, scolding my past self for whatever was going through her addled head at the time. Making sense of my thoughts and articulating them in a way that doesn't bore, irritate or lecture my reader is sometimes difficult, and I don't always get that right.
But sometimes - at least - I hope I do. This is where it becomes very clear that blogging has changed my life. It changed my ambitions, the way I perceive myself and the world around me. I would recommend it for a number of reasons:
- You will become a better writer. You will eventually be picking up on things that couldn't be taught in any classroom. Blogging doesn't "tell" you what will make your writing interesting and exciting on a Powerpoint presentation at two o'clock on a Friday afternoon when you're fed up of this shit and just want to go home; your writing will improve gently at its own accord, with time and with practice. You might not even notice, but it's a happy inevitability.
- You will become a better thinker. Recording your thoughts means that you'll delve more deeply into the matters of your life and the worldview that shapes them.
- Your life becomes more intentional. Once you begin to write thoroughly about your life and the thoughts, feelings and emotions which shape it, it becomes more clear who you are, where you're going and if you like what you see. You essentially begin to watch yourself "grow" and spread your roots; looking from my first ever blog to now, it's pretty obvious I've come on a long old journey. I quite like the direction it went in.
- You will develop better life habits. To write a blog, you need discipline, commitment and devotion; all assets that could be considered pretty useful to embrace.
- The pure joy that comes from a kind comment; no matter how brief. Even better, when a reader mentions that you've wrote something they can relate to - in my opinion, that's the biggest compliment. You feel less isolated, the reader feels less isolated, everybody's winning. How rad is that?
In the past two years, I have penned an open letter to everybody's favourite not-really-that-controversial pop star Miley Cyrus, defended a woman's right to dress in as little as she likes, complained about my boobs in a post with what I used to think was the wittiest title ever, , opened up about my disenchantment with university life and the effects this had on my mental health, documented my rather unusual upbringing as a military child and discreetly suggested to you not to bother getting a nose job...to name a few topics.
I don't know what will inspire me in the next two years, but I can't wait to find out.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BLOG. You have made your mama feel a little less useless and given her a voice many of her peers thought didn't really exist at the time. And for that, she will love you always.
