1 Year Of Blogging!


My blog is one year old!? WHO? WHAT? WHEN? WHERE? HOW? WHY? WOAH WOAH WOAH! Hold on a minute! How quickly did that fly by?! *Insert several shocked Emojis here*

I started my blog on 2nd January 2015 and I remember the moment very clearly. Starting a blog had been something I had wanted to do for the longest time. I had followed other bloggers religiously for years and began to think "hey, I reckon I could do that." I was sat, alone, in my living room, in my pyjamas and spend hours playing around on Blogger. Anyone who has started a blog will know that, when you first try to create one, you really do have absolutely no idea what on Earth you are doing. "What even is a blog post and how do I write one?" I would start to ask myself as I fiddled around with customising a template, huffing and puffing in frustration when something moved to a place I didn't want it to.
I eventually figured out how to set up a blog and couldn't wait to start writing. I felt such a buzz from it and remember just wanting to write and upload one thousand blog posts there and then! I Tweeted my blog link and, pretty soon, people had visited it and were sending my positive feedback. That blew my mind. The fact that I could create something and post the link to it online, then have people reading it within a matter of minutes was crazy!

At first, I didn't really know what direction I wanted my blog to go in. Would it be soley beauty? Fashion? Outfits? Advice? Food? Travel? Thoughts? All I knew was that I loved writing and I wanted to create a space where I could write. Then, I came to realise that I didn't need a niche. I could write about whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted. I didn't need to restrict myself, which would surely only annoy me in the future as it could mean I couldn't post certain things I was passionate about as they didn't fit with the 'theme' of my blog. This, to me, is the beauty of blogging. If you want to only upload posts about the cafes you have been to or the clothes you have worn, that's great, but it's also great that you can upload posts about ANYTHING. If I want to write about my favourite band's new album, I can, if I want to write about a new lipstick I have bought, I can, if I want to write about a holiday I have been on, I can. There really are no rules. Your blog is your creative space where you can let your thoughts explode! It doesn't matter whether you want to write a rant on a topic or simply want to put together a post only of photos. You can do what you want, which creates so much diversity in the blogging community and ensures there is something for everyone!

I had never really had a proper 'hobby.' I wasn't one of those kids who did horse riding from an early age or who was taking part in gymnastics competitions before I could talk. (For the record, I have only been to one gymnastics session in my life when I was about seven and spent the entirety of it crying in the toilet with my Mum because I didn't want to be there. I cannot even do a roly poly and proud I am of it.)
I mean, I did dance for six years and played netball in school, but that was it. If anyone was to ever ask me what my hobbies were, I would struggle immensely to give them a decent response. Now, writing my blog is my hobby. I love writing and enjoy the freedom that my blog gives me. I also enjoy the visual aspect of blog posts. I love editing photos, creating collages, designing my blog template and creating a header. It allows me to personalise my creative space and have it how I feel comfortable. There is no one telling you "you can't post this" or "no one will read that" because I know that I can and I know that they will. There is no one correcting your use of vocabulary or telling you to change the way you have written something. You can write however you want to.

Many of you who have blogs will probably agree that it acts as your escape. It is something which you can go to if you need to take some time out. When you're feeling angry, you can write a rant, when you're feeling sad, you can write an emotional post, when you're happy, you can write about the things you love. It is a distraction, too, as you an pour all of your energy into writing blog posts and isolate yourself from the outside world, for a little while. Personally, I love to just sit on my bed, with my earphones in listening to my favourite music, and write blog posts.
Blogging also fills me with great excitement and gives me a BUZZ! When I buy an outfit I really like, I can't wait to post photos of it onto my blog, when I go to a place I really enjoyed, I can't wait to tell everyone about it. It is something that I truly enjoy doing and I am so glad I decided to bite the bullet and finally start my own blog, after umming and ahhing about it for so long!

Since it was born, my blog has had almost 25,000 views, which, to me, is just astronomical. It honestly baffles me that anyone would ever even want to consider reading something I had written and I am eternally grateful for anyone who has ever bothered to read a blog post of mine. In all honesty, I have spent a lot of my life feeling as though I don't have much of a voice, like no one listens to me, but my blog has given me a voice, even if it is just a whisper in a large crowd, and I feel like people are listening to me, which really does make me happy. I don't aim to be the world's biggest blogger or to have millions of followers. When I started my blog, my aim was to create something which was mine and made me happy and I feel as though I have done that.

If any of you are debating whether or not to start a blog, please just go for it! It's terrifying but could be one of the most rewarding things you ever do, not because it could gain you millions of adoring fans, but because it can really help you personally. It's like a form of emotional therapy. Even if you don't feel as though you can speak about certain things, writing them on a blog can be incredibly beneficial. It also gives you something for YOU. It is your own little thing and nobody can take it away from you. Plus, speaking from experience, having a blog can help you meet new friends and find people you may have never normally found. You find people who share the same interests as you, I had no friends who share all of the exact same interests as me, but now, I have met the loveliest people online who I can talk to for hours about things I love because I know that they love them too. Blogging is an underrated beautiful thing which joins people together. Start now! You never know where it may take you and, besides, what's the worst that could happen?

I cannot wait to continue blogging throughout 2016! I have no idea what my blog will become or what I will write about, but that's okay! I don't need to know! You can't plan creativity in advance and simply have to write in the moment. I am so excited to carry on working on my creative space next year and hope that you will still enjoy the content I produce!
Once again, thank you ever so much for the comments you have left on my blog, the Tweets you have sent me or simply the times you have clicked on my blog URL this year. You have made me very smiley and I love you very much. You really will never know how much it means to me to have people even think about clicking on my page.

I genuinely have no idea how to end this blog post sooo...byeeeeeee! Another year of blogging here we come! :)

Ooh, and please let me know what posts you want to see from me in 2016!

Love, Emily :) xx

6 comments:

  1. Happy Bloggiversary 🎉💞💖💄 I adore your blog Emily and I have done for a year!? Wow!!! xxxx

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    1. Awh thank you so much, Mollie!! Happy 2 years to you hehe! ☺️💗 I love love love your blog too - so glad you are back!! Xxx

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  2. Still hasn't quite hit me yet that I have been reading your blog for a year now! So proud of you and I really hope you'll be doing for a long time! Such true words through the whole post! Xxx

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    1. Thank you so so much for being such a loyal reader! That means the world to me - I cannot believe it has already been a year either but I too hope I shall continue with my blog for a long time! :) Thank you so much for reading, lovely. Love always. Xxx

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    1. Thank you!! Thank you so much for reading too! :) xxx

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