I’m sitting here with just a few minutes to spare before picking up pizza on this relaxing Saturday night and reflecting on how incredible it is that I have been writing officially as a blogger for a year now. I’ve been writing my whole life but, as I have mentioned before, I lost touch with it when life got busy. I started thinking about starting a blog almost two years ago but it took me a year to finally get up the courage to do it. With one year under my belt, I thought this would be a great time to reflect back on where this journey has gone over the last year and where I hope to be by next year.
To start, technically, my website went live about a month after I started my Instagram account but I wanted to build up a few followers and have several blog posts ready for the site launch before I announced it. I have to say this venture was way outside of my comfort zone in a lot of ways. The writing part was not what I was worried about. It was sharing it with the world and being vulnerable and susceptible to other people’s opinion of me. I initially started the IG account because it was a chance to introduce the blog to everyone but also it gave me a daily outlet and source of inspiration to others.
When I first started thinking about starting a lifestyle blog, I really sat and considered what I would be interested in writing about and how would people respond. I decided to make the theme of the blog “finding inspiration in our daily lives” for multiple reasons. First, as a mom of two teens, I found myself needing some daily encouragement and I also knew that so many other moms and women needed some too. I also felt that I wanted to lighten it up too and share things in my life that I enjoy with others, even though some of them may be silly, like fashion and recipes. We all need a little escape from our everyday lives and whether that is in the form of a daily quote or some outfit inspo, I hope that those followers who have stayed so loyal to me have found some inspiration from my blog in some form or another.
As I head into my second year, some of my immediate goals are simple. Keep writing and posting at least one new blog per week, keep posting daily inspiration on IG in the form of mini blog posts and keep trying to find new followers for the blog. As this venture is very part time for me, I haven’t grown my account as much as I had hoped but I also know that it is not about the number of followers but rather the people who truly engage. So, as I watch the number of followers go up and down all the time, I really don’t stress about losing followers because I know that those who stay are the ones who really see the importance of what I am looking to accomplish.
I don’t know if I will get to a point where I will make any money from this and that isn’t why I started it in the first place, but you can rest assured that if that ever does happen, you know that it will be with brands I believe in and trust. The most important thing to me is staying genuine and true to myself.
From the beginning and throughout this journey, I have had the unconditional love and support from some pretty amazing people, including my husband, my sister-in-law and BFF, my family and some great friends. I truly don’t know if I would have stuck with it or continued to stay inspired and motivated without their encouragement and kind words. I’m so grateful for this opportunity and for all of the amazing people I have connected with along the way. I’m truly blessed that you all take the time to read my daily posts and blogs. Here’s to another year of daily gratitude and inspiration. Thank you so much friends!