1 Year Blogging Anniversary!
Where do I even begin? I’d say like with most good stories, the beginning might be a good place to start.
A year ago today, I hit a blue button that read ‘publish’. That was it; my first blog post ‘Hi, I’m Rachy And It’s Complicated’ was up and exposed to the world wide web in an instant. That post was my introduction to the blogosphere, and I discovered quite quickly during the pre-publish period that I had no idea what I was doing, but I also got something right at that time: it sure was complicated.
Setting up my website was basically trial and error over and over again and I think that was the way I began to realize that bringing my vision to life required a lot of patience I wasn’t too confident I possessed back then.
I put into practice everything I had learnt during my journalism degree: opened up social media accounts for the site, had logos designed by a lady I found on People Per Hour and upgraded my website theme. Also, during the summer break I bought a camera I was convinced would seal the deal.
I think the one thing that kept me going was that I got informed about the industry a little beforehand, and therefore, was in no way expecting overnight success with my posts. My first blog drew in probably not more than 10 viewers, including friends and family.
Days went by and my next one was up.
The more time passed the more difficult it was for me to stay on track and meet my ideal schedule. The more I cared about a post or an idea, the harder it was for me to bring it to life the exact way I wanted. On some days the words flowed out of my mind onto the keyboard like water out of a tap. On other days I crumpled, erased and tossed every idea I had, and I banged my head against the wall in search for better words to describe what I really wanted to say. On some days I promised I’d carry on the next day. On the worst days, I didn’t.
A lot of the words you read on each corner of this blog over the last year were writing at about 2.00 am, as I once used to juggle it alongside the responsibilities that came full-force with being a student in a demanding and time-consuming final year. Although that’s been over and done with for a couple of months now, I still find myself laying down words at odd times of the night because as we all know, old habits die hard, and my best friend in the world suggested that it may be the time of day I’m most creative. You be the judge of that!
When I began this journey, I decided it would be a vulnerable one where I would share my thoughts on different topics that pique my interest or affect me in the rawest and honest way I only knew how. I’m proud of the fact that I strongly believe that, even though sometimes I fell behind on the amount of content I was releasing, I did just that. From the first post where I opened up about not really being able to describe myself in just a few words (hence, it’s complicated!), to the one where I wrote about my struggles with stuttering and how it affected my life. I reflected on dealing with pressures and not being okay as well the void that comes with being a serial mover. There were candid posts where I chatted about my university experience and the importance of taking a break.
Honestly, left to my own devices, I would least them all, but these were my top 6 favourites in which I held nothing back:
- Outrage Culture: Do We Get High Off The Madness
- How Double-Tapping On Instagram Influenced My Fashion Sense
- The Art Of Saying No And The Power Behind It
- On Disability And Why I Used To Hide It On Social Media
- Tears Of Joy! Do I Need To Be Sad To Be Relatable Online?
- Long Distance Friendships And The Pain Of Drifting Apart
Over the last few months, I truly got to explore different parts of myself in ways I didn’t even think to before and many times I discovered how I really felt by typing random thoughts onto my screen.
I also got to meet a lot of great bloggers who inspired me to put in the hard work such as Onyi Moss, winner of Cosmopolitan Best Fashion Influencer 2019, Alice Porter from Words by Alice and writer of Fierce Feminist Thoughts, Rachel.
There were also many personal milestones this year such as graduating university with top grades and travelling to the United States from which I returned over a week ago. It’s been a roller coaster kind of year in the scariest and best ways, to be honest!
As much as I hope you enjoyed reading my ‘online journal’, I feel like I’m getting a lot of this too. It’s very cathartic and liberating to put certain feelings out in the world, so, as much as I love to create content for you, ultimately, I still very much feel like I’m doing it for me.
So, what does the future hold for this restless romantic roamer, you may be wondering? I frankly have no clue, but I can only say what I wish could happen.
Obviously, I intend to continue writing super unfiltered posts for you guys which I hope inspire conversation and deep thought. I strongly hope to be able to produce so much more content than I did in this past year and to dip my feet a little deeper into the blogging industry. Hopefully, more hard work will result in more growth!
Finally, I would love to thank all of you who supported and continue to support this vision since the beginning. To YOU who has read every single post from scratch, I’d love to say a big thank you. To YOU who reads every once in a while, I say a big thank you. Perhaps, YOU just stumbled upon this blog with curious eyes and wonder, I say thank you, and I hope you stick around. Heads up; it’s going to be a wild ride!
For me, writing is a lot more than putting words on paper. For me it’s an art form; it’s replacing a brushstroke with letters and painting a picture by placing them perfectly together – I hope I’m just scratching the surface.
Your restless romantic roamer
