On May 27, 2016, I published my 1,000th blog post.
And on November 14, 2023, I published my 2,000th blog post. (Cue the celebration!)
So, what has happened over the last seven-and-a-half years? I have…
- … come out as a bisexual woman and have had two very satisfying-if-temporary relationships with women.
- … lost my beloved grandfather unexpectedly and lost my beloved dog Dutch due to old age.
- … became a cat mom! And a certifiably crazy cat person.
- … experienced massive career growth, including a promotion to management.
- … began living on my own (just a few months after writing my 1,000th blog post!) and couldn’t imagine anything else.
- … lived through a pandemic that upended our world.
- … traveled to Europe, on more cruise ships, and throughout the U.S.
- … taken control over my mental health. I see a therapist and psychiatrist regularly.
- … started a podcast with my best friend!
- … and a billion more things I’m forgetting right now.
When I published my 1,000 blog post, I wrote about the lessons I have learned from blogging. When I re-read through these lessons, I was surprised to realize that these would likely be the same lessons I’d write down today. Does that mean I haven’t evolved as a blogger in nearly eight years? Or perhaps it’s just that I found my place as a blogger way back when and haven’t felt the need to deviate. Here are the lessons:
- Ditch the rules. They are no rules to blogging: Blog your way.
- Don’t be afraid to be vulnerable. My vulnerable posts are the ones that get the most engagement.
- Keep your dirty laundry off your blog. We all know that we don’t share everything on our blogs!
- Always take the time to visit your readers’ blogs. The blogging community is EVERYTHING.
- It’s okay to keep your blog small and unmonetized. This hobby costs me money, still.
- Blogging breaks are a necessity — and stop apologizing for them. You know I love my blogging breaks!
- You are under no obligation to publish mean comments. 100% of the mean comments I get do not leave a valid email address, so they do not get published. At least be a brave bully!
- But don’t be so thin-skinned that you don’t publish any dissenting opinions. It’s okay to disagree!
- Invest in your blog. Pro tip: Etsy offers beautiful blog designs!
- Blogging should always be fun. This is a hobby. It should be fun!
What’s next for this blog? Do I think I’ll make it to 3,000 blog posts in another seven-ish years? I sure hope so! Because blogging has added so much to my life. It has given me:
Clarity
I feel comfortable being vulnerable on this blog, and that’s because of you guys. You have met me with grace and kindness, even when I’m sharing really hard things. My blog is a place I can come to and talk about the things I’m going through, and it provides me with the clarity I need.
Community
Where would I be without my blog friends? When I started this blog, I was part of a blogging community that has since disbanded and many of those bloggers have moved on from their blogs. But I kept showing up here and soon, I found a new community. We may be in entirely different life stages, but that’s what makes it all the more beautiful and touching. We find ways to connect that go beyond our similarities and differences. I am grateful to all of you: the ones who show up with thoughtful comments on my posts and the ones who are silent participants. Whether you’ve left hundreds of comments or zero, you mean the world to me.
Purpose
Blogging is so much more than a simple hobby for me. It has given me a sense of purpose. I feel an obligation (but in a good way!) to show up here at least three times a week and talk about my life. I love that I have this space to write, whether it’s a creative personal essay or just a check-in on my goals. I love that I can see the passage of time through my archives, from college student to marketing manager, from diet-obsessed to anti-diet, from dog mom to cat mom, from a girl who was hiding her identity to one who is living her best queer life.
My life has changed in so many ways over these past 1,000 posts, and I’m so grateful to everyone who has been along for the ride. Here’s to the next 1,000 posts and the woman I’ll be when I get there.
When did you start blogging?
Congratulations on your milestone. Well done.
I started blogging in March 2004 and began writing what I refer to as starter blogs, in which I made many mistakes, but learned enough to keep going. I started my current blog in January 2011, but have about half as many posts as you have here. When asked about blogging I often say the trick is to live first, blog later. And I adhere to the principle my blog, my rules. 🤓
Yay!! Happy 2000
Happy 2000! That is a big milestone! Isn’t it fun to look back and see where we were back then and where we are now? I also find it interesting that basically some things just don’t change! I definitely think that we do get smoother, and more comfortable in our own skin (hopefully) as the years go by but often our ideals don’t change!
I started blogging in 2006, and have some years where I have over 200 posts and one year where I only had one, so I definitely had a moment there where I lost the community. However, you are so right; when I came back, it did not take long to find a new community (and some of the originals too! I am looking at you!)
You know, it’s interesting because I think my ideals have changed a LOT from 2011, when I started this blog. I was a very conservative Christian and a Republican – and I was embroiled in diet culture and being skinny. And now I have been on a deconstruction journey with my faith, I’m a liberal Democrat, and have learned to love my fat body and untangle myself from diet culture. And a lot of that change has happened BECAUSE of blogging and being privy to different perspectives.
Congratulations! I’ve only been blogging for about three years, but I love all the same things about it as you. It gives me a sense of purpose and I LOVE the community! Do you know that I’ve NEVER gotten a mean comment??? Maybe I’m just not posting controversial things, but I still think that’s surprising. All the comments I get are super kind and supportive.
Sometimes my husband grumbles (just a little) that I’m putting money into my blog (although it’s not much) without making any money from it. But… I think if we monetized our blogs it would change them. Any hobby changes when it becomes a money-making activity, even if we have the best of intentions.
So Etsy has blog designs? My blog needs a makeover….
You are very lucky to not get mean comments! I got one just this month, but they didn’t have a valid email address so I didn’t publish it. Ugh.
The way I see it: All of our hobbies cost money! Blogging is the hobby that probably costs me the LEAST when I think about how much time and effort I put into it.
Definitely look into Etsy for templates! They are usually pretty reasonably priced, too!
Wow! You are a much more prolific blogger than I am. I’ve had my blog for nineteen years and have published just over 3000 posts. At this rate, you’ll surpass me quite soon! I love that it means you are a consistent blogger and you prioritize it (even with your occasional breaks). Congratulations!
My first post went live in September 2004. I’m thinking about doing something to celebrate twenty years next September, but I’m not sure exactly what that will look like. Watch out for it, though!
Two thousand blog posts!!! Woot woot! What a milestone — and what an eventful and successful few years.
I haven’t even reached 1000 posts yet, and I’ve been blogging since 2009!
Oh, this is just wonderful, Stephany. It makes me so happy. I’m so glad we found each other, I consider you a friend and an important person in my life! I’m’ so proud of everything you have done in the time I have known you.
I also agree 100% with all your lessons. They all resonate so much.
Nicole! This comment really touched me. I consider you to be a dear friend as well! I am so glad we were brought together through blogging!
I had to go see how many posts I’ve published – I’m at about 2,100 and I started back in Aug/Sept of 2008. My pace of blogging has slowed WAY DOWN. I post about twice/week these days which is about all I can fit in.
I agree with everything you’ve said here. It is harder for me to be vulnerable these days since some things are not my stories to share. It was different when I was a single lady blogging about my life! I try to be very honest about parenting, though, and I get comments from other moms thanking me for being real.
I was trying to remember when we met for the first time so went through old blog posts and found the post about our meet-up. It was March of 2014 so JUST before I resigned from my job in Charlotte!
https://lisasyarns.blogspot.com/2014/03/my-time-in-florida.html
I remember that meetup! What a wild time that was for you – so glad you were able to resign from that job and move back to MN!
I think you are great at being vulnerable about the things you CAN be vulnerable about. Being honest about motherhood and raising kids is SO NEEDED!
I am such a lurker, but I started blogging late last year because of blogs like yours; your reading recs are amazing and I appreciate your voice and experiences! 2,000 posts is no joke – I can’t imagine even making it to 100 at this point – congrats on both the consistency AND the content!
Lindsay, this makes me so happy to hear! You got this <3 All you have to do is keep showing up and you'll get there. Subscribing to your blog now!
Blogging has changed in so many ways, and yet is still the same if you find the right community. I’m glad I found SAN’s group (I call it hers because I found everyone through NaBloPoMo last year, which I found through NGS, so I guess I should call it HER group!
I started in November 2005, and there were times when I blogged every day, sometimes more than once in a day, and times when I have gone months without a post.
Congratulations on your milestone, that is fabulous! I like the lessons you have brought up here, they are great. 🙂
Congratulations Stephany! That’s a big deal!!! I love re-reading your 1K post’s list. You’re right – it stands the test of time. I follow those rules too. Especially the dirty laundry one. I used to read a blog where the lady regularly shat on her MiL and it made me feel so ick. Like, it wasn’t even fun to read. I know that can make things seem more highlight-reely, but not everything is meant to be shared <3
And I love reading what blogging has given you. I too love being able to see the passage of time on my blog. There are kind of our little marks on the world 🙂
I started blogging in July 2005 😀
I found out the hard way that you never really know WHO is reading your blog, so I’m much more circumspect now than I was in my early twenties, haha. And, honestly, dirty laundry isn’t something most of us want to read about – like you said, it starts feeling ICKY at some point. We want people to be vulnerable, but not at the expense of others.
Congratulations on this momentous milestone! And so much of life that you’ve lived in all that time!
Since you asked, you’re ahead of me by a fair bit. I just posted my 1,384th blog post since I started in 2003.
Congratulations! What a milestone. I don’t remember when exactly I discovered and started reading your blog, but I feel like I’ve “known” you for a long time and have witnessed some of your growth on this blog… I love everything about the “lessons” that you published 1000 blog posts ago and I agree that it really is all about this community. So many people from way back when have stopped blogging, but I am glad that there are so many (new) people in this wonderful community of ours!
I’ve started blogging in 2004 and I’ll hit 3000 posts soon-ish… it’s amazing to me for how long some of us have kept this up 😉 Here’s to another 1000 blog posts (and more!)
You are definitely one of the OGs that has followed along on my journey for a long, long time. There has been so much growth and change over these past 2,000 posts!
It’s hard to believe that I started blogging (and reading blog) wayyyy back in 2007. I truly hate how much I’ve neglected my blog in the past few years and am forever trying to find my way back to it. You are my north star for blogging!
Congratulations. 2, 000 blog posts that is so amazing. I love your list from the 1,000 blog post celebration. It is like you have peeked into my mind. I love what blogging means to you. And it is true that blogging has changed so much ( and I am only doing it 10 years) and it is a totally different community I am in now that back in the day when I started. I agree that blogging is amazing for getting to know different life stages, life styles and cultures. I really love it and it maybe a favorite thing. I recently told the husband that I have blog friends on every continent. That would be so hard in real life.
Wow, Stephany. I wish I had been here from the beginning (and as much as I treasure your blog and its place on the interwebs, I can’t possibly go back and read the many, many posts that I missed!). I do appreciate it when you give us a link “back” to Stephany-in-the-past. You have grown and changed so much. Your strength and your openness are amazing. Thank you for sharing about yourself here… I am definitely better for it. <3
You mean you don’t have time to go back and read the 1,500ish posts you have missed before you found my blog? WHAAT? Haha, just kidding! I don’t expect anyone to dig through my archives (… and maybe that’s for the best, lol. I was a VERY different person in my early twenties.)