MUCH ADO ABOUT BLOGGING

I enjoy blogging a lot. Especially when I write on topics i’m passionate about and know the blog post will help or inspire someone. Blogging to me is sort of a release, an avenue for me to pour out pent up emotion, giving the voices in my head a platform to speak. Although while running my old blog, blogging became a lot of WORK! And when something you enjoy starts to seem like too much work, it definitely loses its appeal.

At some point I got stuck and didn’t know how to move forward, I was overwhelmed and felt extremely pressured by the invisible forces of the blogosphere;  pressured to consistently post relevant content that adds value to the reader, pressured to promote posts on social media so that they get read and hopefully rake in comments, pressured to make sure my posts ranked high on Google search using SEO. *sigh!* I mean, all this was too much for me to process even after my 5+ years of blogging. Hats off to bloggers who have all this figured out, you guys are truly MVP’s!

And then what about the insecurities and over thinking that come with putting out a blog post? Asking yourself “what if nobody likes it?” “what if they think my title sucks and they don’t read?” “what if nobody drops a comment?” Comments on the old blog were practically non-existent and this took a toll on my blogging confidence.

I started to question my reasons for blogging, I asked myself so many times “why are you blogging?” “are you even on the right track?” “Does your blog even have a clear focus that people can resonate with?”That last question was because there were too many categories on my blog and writing for each one was a lot of pressure. I scrambled to write on topics that I had little or no interest in, just because I had to put content out. My own blog began to overwhelm me, and not in a good way. This took the relaxation out of writing and it became unpleasant work.

One day while reflecting, I thought, what if I just want to write for the sake of expressing myself? What if I don’t always have value to add but just want to share an experience in the hope that someone somewhere can relate? And if I just want to write to empty my mind of all the words floating around without thinking of monetising the blog, is that such a bad thing? What if I just want to blog without feeling like an unserious or inadequate blogger?!!

I love to blog, but then, I want to do it on my own terms, I want to give value without the pressure of being expected to give value. I just need a space to express my thoughts, a space where the voices in my head can have a platform to flourish.

So this post is me saying WHY NOT?! Why can’t I blog without following all the rules? Why can’t I just pour out the words and hope that someone out there can relate and be inspired?

And that is exactly what i’m going to do. Will you join me on this new journey?