I’ve been thinking a lot about blogging lately. Spending an entire month without blogging was hard on me. I use this space as more than just a place to write but a place to let out all my thoughts and journal through my feelings. I’m pretty open and vulnerable in my posts and it’s a cathartic release for me to write some of my more vulnerable posts.
August was hard on me and I think some of that comes from not blogging. I had a friend tell me that coming back to my blog and talking through my feelings on August might help me get out of my funk. And she was totally right. While I did some journaling and soul-searching during that month, it wasn’t the same as blogging. There was something inherently missing from my writing, even though journaling let me be even more open, even more whiny than usual. But there is just something magical about this space for me. I share my ideas and get feedback. I open my heart up and get support. I have taken friends who were just people who commented on my blog and turned them into people I go to when I need a listening ear or a place to vent.
My life would be drastically different if I did not have this blog.
Because of this blog, I have opened myself up more to new ideas and ways of thinking. I have done more things to break out of my comfort zone and stop living such a small life inside my bubble. I am beginning to understand me and I know if it wasn’t for the blogs I read, or the friends who I have grown to love like sisters, or the ways I have poured my heart out to my blog to get feedback and support – I would still be stuck in my little bubble, afraid of evening attending a meet-up event for fear of what people might think of me.
Lately, I’ve been asking myself the question, why do I blog? Why do I spend hours each week creating posts, connecting with other readers, and reading blogs? What is in it for me? My readership has gone down, my comments have gone down, and while I don’t check my stats regularly, I am assuming they have gone down as well. Blogging has changed. Blogging is different than when I first started. Those friends I met in the beginning are no longer blogging. I know my writing has changed in dramatic ways (now that I’m no longer ranting about life and realizing people are reading my writing and let’s try to rein in the whiny posts a bit, ‘kay?).
I went through a long period of questioning my blogging style and ways I could change to make my blog better and more successful. I wanted to make something of my blog and learn all those big keywords bloggers need to be aware of to grow their blogs. And then one day, I just stopped. I stopped writing for my readers (though I love you guys tremendously and MWAH!). I stopped fretting about stats and comments. And I just wrote. For me. I started using my blog to write through my tough times and hardships and exciting vacations and ponderings of the universe. I started writing about my faith and being serious that no, I do not have it all together but I’m trying. I started to realize that I am writing this blog for myself. I am holding onto this blog because I need it in my life. Even if I pour my heart and soul into a blog post and get no response to it, that is okay. I don’t need to be a blogger who gets 80 comments when I just post a picture of my dog sleeping. I don’t want to be a blogger who just posts a photo of my dog to get a post up. I want to be a blogger who is a writer. I want to be a writer who has a blog. I want my blog to be a place where people can come and know I’m going to be honest and forthright, a place for people to be inspired or want to offer advice, a place that is wholly, 100% me.
Even if that means fewer readers. Even if that means fewer comments. Even if that means I’m never going to be a successful megablogger.
Even if.
This blog is my release. It is my space to journal. It showcases my journey from a timid and shy 21-year-old on the precipice of a new beginning to an almost 25-year-old woman who is growing into her skin and herself. Who understands herself better and embraces her successes and failures.
Having readers and developing friendships have been one of the best parts of this blog and I love that. I will always love that. And never hesitate to email me to just say hey. Some of the best friendships I’ve developed off this blog have developed because one of us got brave enough to just say hey.
I am no longer struggling with my identity of this blog because I have released the need to worry about it. I will not fret over comments or falling stats. Why do I blog? I blog because not blogging would be like taking away a part of my heart. I blog because I have to. Because it is as true to me as breathing.
Why do you blog?
Yes! Love this post. I went through that stage when I first started blogging. It was with my old blog actually.. I was writing for everyone else except myself. Well, that didn’t last long. I got bored and couldn’t think of anything to write and blogging started to feel like work. Now I write for myself and I love it every single day. I don’t have those moments anymore where I’m like, “Why do I do this?!” Comments and readers are great but it’s only a small piece of blogging for me.
I’m glad you’ve gotten so much out of blogging, too. It really is cool to look back on old posts and see how far you’ve come 🙂
Oh yes! Great point. It really is amazing to have a record of your life and be able to see where you’ve come from and what you’ve accomplished.
That’s one of the most special things: reading posts from a year ago to see what I was dealing with then and where I have come since then. I’m glad we’ve both discovered the true magic of blogging! 🙂
I want to print this out, put it over my bed, and read it every day when I wake up and every night when I go to sleep. That’s just how much I love it.
You are too sweet! Thank you. 🙂 It was one of the posts that’s been brewing in my head for a long time and just felt like I needed to write it. Blogging is so much more enjoyable once we realize we’re doing it because we love it and stats don’t matter so much.
My stats are down, my comments are down and I suppose that’s partially because I blog less than I used to and don’t have as much time to comment on others (I read often, but can’t/don’t always comment). But I don’t know what my life without blogging would like. Odd. Empty. Unusual. I’ve talked about it with friends before and I don’t think I could stop blogging even if I had nothing to say. It’s a part of who I am. I’ve been doing it for almost seven years… that’s a really long time, eh?
I agree. I don’t think I could stop blogging either. It’s just part of who I am. It’s something I wholly enjoy and I do love feedback and the friends I’ve made, but I’m not going to stress over comments/stats anymore. It’s not worth it!
I’ve seen so many posts about this lately (& even wrote one, myself!). It’s good to have readers, because – well – otherwise, our blogs would just be journals. But we have to love what we do, plain and simple. Glad we’re all realizing this! 🙂
I’m glad we all are, too! I love the feedback I receive and enjoy the friendships I’ve made from blogging, but the most important part of it all is to enjoy writing and sharing our lives.
Love this. Blogging, for me, has always been more about the community than actual blogging itself (see also: I’m a terrible blogger!). I absolutely adore the people I’ve “met” through blogging – you included! – and the opportunities I’ve had for fun experiences with other members of the blogging community.
I enjoy the community aspect a lot, too! Sometimes, it can be overwhelming for me and I wonder why X blogger is friends with Y blogger but Y blogger isn’t friends with me, though X blogger is. If that makes any sense. So there’s that comparison trap that can be really dangerous and I think by focusing less on growing my blog and more on writing and enjoying that aspect, I am not finding myself ensnared in the comparison trap so much. It’s very freeing!
I used to be obsessed with comments and stats and such when I was with Blogger, but there was something about that move to WordPress taht was like taking matters into my own hands. It didn’t matter to me anymore if I was getting 10 comments for every post. Some days I get NO comments, and I’m okay with that. Blogging, for me, is just about recording my thoughts and connecting with others. I’m not trying to be a megablogger who lands a book deal and maybe even a movie about her life. I’m just here to make friends and share thoughts. Blogging is helpful in some ways to keep my mind churning since graduating from college. Without structuring these posts and brainstorming new things to write about my creativity level would probably be a lot lower. So, I blog for me first as a release, and if someone “likes” or comments on a post, then that’s just a plus.
I agree with you so much! Switching over to WordPress, I lost a lot of my followers and for a while, I was really bummed about that but I’ve grown to understand that blogging, for me, is more about recording my thoughts and writing. I push myself to write more for my blog than I have ever pushed myself to write for anything (except for NaNo, now!). It keeps my creative juices flowing and helps me write through problems and issues and discoveries. I love this space so much and by releasing the pressure to write for others and/or grow my blog, I’m enjoying it tenfold.
“e. Even if I pour my heart and soul into a blog post and get no response to it, that is okay. I don’t need to be a blogger who gets 80 comments when I just post a picture of my dog sleeping. ”
YES.
I can’t say I always manage this. I get blogger envy all. the. time.
But I know why I blog. The one thing I’ve always been is a writer. Maybe in 10 years I won’t be blogging and I’ll have moved on to something else. But for now, this is it.
Blogging has helped me build confidence. It’s helped me hone my writing and develop my voice (beyond writing straight news). And hopefully it has given me a few connections around the world for when I travel.
I still get blogger envy, too, but I’m quicker to dismiss it now. Because I know I’m doing the best I can and in the way I want to blog. I don’t need this blog to be anything but what it already is: a space for me to write. I think we’re both doing just fine on that aspect! 🙂
I love your blog! I just wanted to say I am surprised your readership/stats/comments have declined. I love how genuine and open you are here.
You are so sweet! Thank you. That really means a lot!
I’ve made a real effort to keep my blog lowkey and just a place for me to share. I don’t want to get caught up in trying to make money or build my “brand.” I just want to enjoy the space for what it is, and keep it from overwhelming me.
Yes, exactly. I just want my blog to be a space for me to share my life. It is exhausting to think about all the different ways I could grow my blog, but I don’t want it to become inauthentic. I love meeting people who come to my blog and will always, always, cherish the comments and feedback but that’s not the end-all for why I have this blog.
I have made good friends from blogging, so I would definitely miss that! It’s also such a great way to bounce ideas, get new tips and ideas and encouragement and to vent and to share and to learn! I have been pretty tired lately, and so have not been blogging (or commenting!) as much, but I still like to do it when I can. It makes me feel good!
I would really miss the community aspect of everything if I stopped blogging, too! While I have had a few harsh critics to the way I do things, I have found so many people who GET me and it’s quite special. 🙂
My readership has gone down and comments have gone down as well. But yet I still keep trucking! When I first started, I had hardly any comments but kept doing it. Posting to the internet has become a habit and compulsion.
So glad you’re still at it too! I won’t stop reading you, lady!
I won’t stop reading you either! Seeing you in my Reader daily has brightened my November. <3
Awww. I’ve written similar posts in the past because I feel the same way about blogging. I also used to obsess about stats and comments and used to check my stats all the time on Google Analytics. When I switched from Blogger to self-hosted WP, I lost a lot of readers and commenters though, but I don’t even care anymore. I don’t even have analytics on my new blog because I realized I started blogging for myself, and I need to continue to do so. I feel so much better since I stopped obsessing over the stats!
I have Analytics on this blog but in the 7 months I’ve been self-hosted, I’ve logged on once and that was only to see if any funny search terms had brought people to my blog – ha! It’s so freeing to release the need to blog for people/stats and just write to share my life.
I am happy to hear you are not struggling with your identity and are just happy to have this space to document the events of your life and what is on your mind. That is why I blog. I need the creative outlet as I don’t get it in my job. I also love the connections I’ve made and the friendships I’ve formed. I will never be a popular blogger and I am really ok with that because there are aspects to being popular that I am not ok with, like being torn down and insulted by others! I’m quite content with my little space and the readers I have. 🙂
Oh yes! I wouldn’t enjoy being popular and having to always defend myself and deal with critics. I’m happy with this blog the way it is and the friends I have made from it. It’s been a fun journey and I’m glad I’m more settled in how I want to blog now.
I love recording my thoughts and interacting with other people. Even if it’s just a few people. With my last blog, I was really intensely obsessed with stats and it was awful and didn’t do anything except make me feel bad about myself. I got really burnt out thinking about other people and what they wanted, so I made a promise to myself with my new blog that I would be more focused on just sharing what and when I felt like. I do try to keep a 5 day a week schedule, but I love posting my little posts or Tuesday Wisdom posts or whatever, just to say hi and share something I like. I no longer feel compelled to have something mind-blowingly awesome all the time.
Yes, exactly! We have to do what we enjoy. For me, I enjoy sharing my life and I learned when I stopped obsessing over stats and comments and just wrote what I felt like writing about — it became a million times more enjoyable! And I almost never have writer’s block when coming up with posting ideas because I’m not stressing over what I “should” be writing about, just what I want to write about!
I have a few close friends that I’ve only known through the Internet. And one of them is coming to visit me in a few weeks and that is why I blog. For the eventual possibility of a connection that is so great that we’re willing to take it to the next level. And you’re right too about being able to view other worlds. I have such insights into lives that I could never live because I read their blogs. And I genuinely think that it has been one of the most important aspects of my growth as a person, which is crazy since it’s so hard to explain that to other people. When people are like “how do you know about…” blah blah blah and I can’t even explain it, then I know that blogging is working for me. It is a fantastic window to other worlds and I love it for that.
Amen!! I have wracked my brain and spent countless hours trying to make my blog “successful” without taking into account that i have made some amazing friends and learned more about myself than I probably ever would have.
Great post!
*can you tell I’m your newest follower & catching up on your blog today. LOL Can’t wait to keep up on now.
I wish I could say what everyone else has already said, that they agree fully with this post. But I’m going be encouraged by reading this post to be fully honest to myself (as well as you) when I say… I don’t blog for myself.
Sure, I blog about my life and my thoughts, but somehow I feel inclined to stop just because I don’t get “enough” comments. Although, what is enough? It feels pointless to me somehow to blog if no one is reading it. Luckily, I’ve had a few great comments on my blog lately and I appreciate them and that makes me want to blog more.
I do feel, however, that the blog helps me to vent about things I wouldn’t dare to vent about “offline”, and it is somehow comforting to know I have a place to let my feelings take over and just… write. And like you said, blogging has changed a LOT lately. It’s a whole lot different now than it was about 10 years ago when I had my first blog/domain (although I was thirteen back then, so heck, I was different back then too). It seems there are lot less personal feelings and thoughts involved in blogging these days.
I like your post, I think this is a GREAT post about blogging and a good reminder for me to (now that I’m blogging again) forget about comments and stats and such and just… write.