I was doing a bit of work on my blog this morning and found myself reading back through my first couple of months of posts – December 2009 and January 2010. I was all ready to cringe with embarrassment, but actually they weren’t bad.
What was clear straight away was just how personal they felt; too personal if anything. The posts were short, (like this one), but they were like little glimpses into my mind; reading them I felt almost like an intruder, stealing a peak into my family life. They felt a little bit sad, and although funny in places, they lacked the tongue-in-cheek style humour that has developed over the years. There was a sense of loneliness, particularly during the first month, of having been on my own as a parent, emotionally if not physically, for a long time.
What I also noticed was how quickly I seemed to get into my stride. Even over those first few months I could sense myself growing in confidence, moving from stories of Christmases alone with my children and stolen moments of quiet in the early mornings to complaining about the children’s disgust at being asked to wear coats in January.
When I think of myself five years ago compared to now I’m certain that I’ve grown immensely in confidence. I think about the way that I worked then and the behaviour I tolerated from the men in my life and I feel sure that the 2015 version of me would have something to say about it.
How much, I wonder, has blogging helped this personal growth? Has finding my voice online contributed to feeling more sure of it offline too? Five years from now, how might I have changed further? What will I think of the 2015 me when I hit my ten year blogging birthday?
Random picture of me in a hat.
Fab post – I think blogs are great ways of reflecting how far we’ve come and changed over the months and years. Almost a form of (very public) therapy! I’ve only been blogging since Aug 2014 but it has fast become a passion and an outlet…I wonder how much I’ll have evolved when I hot my 5 years! Thanks for sharing x
Author
Thanks for the comment Suzanne – it really does feel like a form of therapy sometimes!
Great post hun. I think blogging makes a huge difference to us and helps when we’re feeling down. I’ve found blogging has changed who I am in a fantastic way and it made me realise how much I love writing. As a consequence I’ve half-written a novel, made friends with some wonderful people and earned money from my writing – a lifetime dream. It’s funny sometimes when we look back and having a blog allows us to take a look into our younger lives and see what we thought. I might do this just to find out how much I’ve changed. I’m sure I will get the cringing though, I wrote terribly when I started! I’ve been blogging for three years now and have loved every minute of it. xx
After reading this post I actually went back to the begining and read everyone of them. I thought they were great (although I am extremely nosey, so I liked the personal nature of them) I think your “voice” is very human and true which I instantly connected with.
I tell so many of my clients that they need to blog regularly and make it a more relaxed part of their website. Maybe not too personal though as it is still their business site, but definitely more casual in tone. I have recently just started to practice what I preach, i have redone my own website with a blog, which I have now managed to update 3 times already (a huge personal achievement!) and I am finding I do like being myself and rambling a little online. In fact so much so, I am thinking of setting up a personal blog just to vent and ramble more freely without worrying about any negative associations with my business. Although, maybe I am too lazy for that and should just keep my muttering to myself instead.
Either way, love your old posts and you new. Congratulations on 5 years of blogging :-)
Jo
Thoroughly enjoyed this having written my first post just a couple of days ago, I can only aspire to look back in 10 years with the same fondness xx