For a much better blogging-versary/birthday read, hop over to Samara's post about her 5 years. Yay for my bestie! And yes, we are those friends who started blogs within one day of each other and who will probably have kids at the same time... oh, sorry, TMI? You should be used to it after 5 years ;)
To celebrate this anniversary/birthday/awkward title, I want to share some ways this blog has helped me grow. Hopefully this won't be too snooze-worthy, and if it is, too bad - I already told you to go check out Samara's post.
I've grown in my writing; that's obvious, because this is a blog. Specifically, though, posting over the years has helped me grow more confident in my own voice. When I go back to old posts, I can tell when I was writing for myself or when I was writing for my audience's imagined expectations, and I like the former better. I'm sorry if a Disney song bursts forth right now, but I have to say it: when I was "bee-ing myself" like the Genie recommends {would you like some wine with that cheese?}, my posts were and are a more pleasant read. Because isn't the point of blogging to share yourself with others? And the point of reading other blogs to learn about other people?
Also, creative challenges like Victoria's 31 Days of Writing have been full of opportunities for growth! And now I'm signing myself up for a similar challenge in February...must be a challenge junkie.
I've grown in my ability to process life. I don't know if I would have been able to describe the strange combination of emotions surrounding my grandpa's memorial, or fully process everything from Nicaragua, or handle all the feels that came with choosing a college, without this blog to help me sort things out. On the flip side of this, I think I've grown in my ability to discern my level of personal privacy. What kinds of things am I comfortable sharing on this blog and what things do I want to keep to my journal and close friends?
I've grown in the blogging community. Five years ago, I didn't know what a blogging community was. I didn't even know how to find other blogs. {Sometimes I laugh at my former self, but then I realize that laughing at silly people isn't nice, so I make myself stop out of pity....and you can laugh at the current me. Don't feel guilty.} Now I reward myself with reading other blogs and following the rabbit trail, if you will, from one blog to another and discovering even more treasures on the internet. Also, I know that more people than just my stalker sister {hey, Paige!} read my blog, and that's kind of cool {but not as cool as Paige is}.
I've grown numerically. Here are my posting numbers from the last five years: in 2009, I posted 31 times. In 2010, 48 posts made their way onto the web. 2011 saw the "publish" button clicked 51 times. 2012 hit a multiple of eleven with 88 posts. And 2013 broke the triple digit ceiling for a smashing {see what I did there?} total of 135 posts. Between the Not Alone Series, Finish This, and 7 Quick Takes link ups, plus the afore-mentioned February challenge, 2014 should continue this upward trajectory. Woot!
Life is crazy, and is it weird that I'm glad to have some documentation?? In 2009, there is no way on God's green earth that I could have imagined life in 2014. Five years ago, I was living at my parents' house praying about where to finish college and wondering if I could leave my bff. Now I'm living in my own home with my bff, and college is something I tease my sisters about. How things do change.
Thanks for being a part of the journey!
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