| What I Learned From 1 Year Of Blogging |

This blog is officially one year old. I’m actually still in shock about it. First off, I want to thank every single person who has visited my blog over the past year! The sheer fact that there are people out there that want to read what I write about leaves me with no words. In short; it’s crazy, amazing, and inspiring. 
Blogging was something I started kind of on a whim and to be quite honest I wasn’t really sure what I was doing. I just knew I really enjoyed watching videos and reading about beauty and fashion, and I wanted to do something along those lines. I had no idea I’d keep up with it for this long and I couldn’t ever imagine there would be people who would actually want to read it. 
Honestly, this full year of blogging has taught me a lot, not only about my blog and the world of social media, (which I didn’t even use before starting my blog), but also about myself. Blogging certainly has it’s ups and downs, but I really love doing it. It gets tough and there are days when I just want to delete the whole thing and all of my social media accounts along with it, but I love what I do too much. I’ve always loved writing and it’s given me an opportunity to be creative and express myself.

Since I’ve learned so much from blogging for a year, I decided I would share with you guys some of the things my blog has taught me. It can almost count as a little “beginners guide to blogging”. Enjoy!

What I learned from one year of blogging

1. If you love something enough, you can actually stick to doing it

I have a hard time finding hobbies that interest me. I’m an all-or-nothing kind of girl, so either I love something or I don’t. I also have a tendency to lose interest in things that I’m not immediately good at. When I wrote my first post, which took me about 6 straight hours to write, I knew I found something I loved, I just wasn’t sure how long I’d be interested in doing it for. I’ve taken a few breaks with my blog, and I’ve made a lot of changes but I’m still here. I’m still posting regularly and I’m still active on social media. I finally found something I love doing and I’m beyond proud of myself for sticking to it, even when it got tough. 

2. Quality > quantity, always

When I first started this blog, I wanted to post 5 days a week. Looking back now, I was absolutely out of my mind. I thought that the more posts I banged out, regardless of the quality, the more page views I would get. I was totally wrong. I have now brought my posts down to 2 a week, every Tuesday and Saturday, and my page views have soared. My posts are written better and my photos are of much better quality. I cringe when I look back at some of my first posts but I won’t ever delete them. They’re kind of part of my ever-growing journey in the blogging world. 

3. Social media will be your new best friend

Like I said earlier in this post, when I first started my blog I had no social media accounts and I hadn’t used any since I deleted my Facebook account back in 2012. Now, I spend a lot of time on social media promoting my content, engaging with readers, and supporting and talking to other bloggers. Social media has an equal amount of pros and cons, but it’s one of the most important parts of running a blog. 
I think one of the things people seem to forget is being active across multiple platforms. I started with my Twitter account, then I created my Instagram and my Facebook page. I also use Snapchat now, which gives people a chance to see a more personal side of me. 

4. Supportive community & making new friends

I was terrified of other bloggers when I first started my blog. I thought they’d all think I wasn’t good enough or they would view me as some sort of competition. I couldn’t have been more wrong. With the exception of a few bloggers I’ve come across, almost everyone has been nothing but supportive and helpful. I love being able to engage with other people who do the same thing I do, who understand the same struggles and triumphs. I love having an opportunity to support and help people. I just love the blogging community!

5. Your content won’t be for everyone & that’s okay

I used to get really discouraged when I’d follow bloggers I liked on social media and I wouldn’t get a follow back. I felt as though my content wasn’t good enough, but I now understand that what I write about and what I do won’t necessarily be something that everyone will love and I’m okay with that. I don’t like every single thing other bloggers write about, so I can’t expect others to like everything I do. All that matters is that I have a place I can express myself and do what I love. 

6. Carry a notebook & pen with you at all times

Inspiration will definitely strike in some of the strangest places. I can’t even count the amount of times I’ve thought of a really good idea and I didn’t have anything to write it down with. I now carry my notebook with me everywhere I go and if I don’t, I make sure to write a note in my phone whenever ideas cross my mind throughout the day. I also keep a notebook next to my bed, because I get tons of ideas before I fall asleep!

7. Weekends won’t be a thing anymore

This is a bit of an exaggeration, but the amount of free time I no longer have is pretty wild. Since I work full time, I spend a lot of my time on the weekends writing, taking photos, and editing. I stay up late during the week doing the same. I’ve had to say no to a lot of things so I would have time to work on my blog. It sucks sometimes, but with a blog, you get what you put into it. However, I won’t limit myself to having absolutely no life. I still go out and do things, I just pick and choose what to spend my free time on. 

8. It’s okay to take a break

With all that being said, it’s okay to take a break from blogging. I’ve actually taken a few over the past year. Sometimes life gets hectic and sometimes you just need some more time for yourself, and that’s okay. What I love about blogging, is that I never feel forced to do it. If I have no motivation or inspiration, or if i’m dealing with some personal issues, I can take a break whenever I want. 

9. Be yourself

This is by far the most important thing I’ve learned from blogging. I used to try so hard to be like the bloggers that had a large following; I tried to write like them, look like them, talk like them, take the same types of photos as them. That got me absolutely no where. Now, what you see is what you get. I am the real me across all of my social media accounts and on my blog. I have no problem being real and honest, I have no problem talking about mental health issues, I have no problem talking about things that bother me, and I have no problem talking about weird things that excite and interest me. I’m not going to pretend to be someone I’m not, and if you don’t like the real me that’s totally fine. I can’t be everybody’s favorite person. 

10. It’s all worth it

Social media drama, posts that don’t do so well, pictures that don’t turn out the way they were supposed to, late-nights spent editing, skipping out on going out, every single struggle and sacrifice has been worth it. I’ve found amazing people to talk to and so much support and help. I’ve finally found something that I love doing and as silly as it sounds, I’ve finally found something I would love to be able to do for the rest of my life, a place where I can be as creative as I want to be and just be myself. 



This was a bit of a long read, but if you made it this far I just want to say thank you. Thank you for reading my blog. Thank you for supporting me in something that I love doing. I’m so happy I decided to start my blog and I can’t wait to see what the next year of this “adventure” brings. 




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