So this post is actually our 100th post! I'm so excited and this marks such a huge occasion for us. Nearly 3 years worth of work and we have hit this new milestone. It feels so refreshing to know that our journey has been documented somewhere where I can go back and relive those moments. I decided that as this is a momentous occasion I would look over some of our previous milestones and share them with you all!
For our 2 week anniversary I remember writing this post in the back of my grandparents car. It was summer and I was so excited that the blog had been active for 2 weeks and we had gotten nearly 100 views! We were enjoying the simplest things in life and it was so much fun to just sit and catch up whilst enjoying nature and planning new things for the blog. It was literally one of the best feelings ever.
I began my gushy, epiphany moments in October and kick started some of the many moments where I would just completely and honestly share my feelings with you all. These posts are always met with positivity and an open mind so you've all made me feel so great about being 100% honest. Added to that, its still the second most popular post on my blog (and it was over 2 years ago!)
The beginning of 2014 signified the time where we stopped being anonymous. This was a really big decision for us because there were already people that we knew that had come across the blog. By adding our names, it made it a lot easier for them to narrow down who we were through what we were talking about and the experiences that we shared on here. We had kept our issues a secret from other people for so long that it was such an anxious time when we hit that "publish" button, we didn't know how they were going to react but we did it anyway. We were strong and we had faith in ourselves and everything was okay!
After we hit our first year anniversary as a blog, we were able to reflect on our journeys as a whole and see how much we have grown as people. Reading that post back right now, I was able to see just how much had actually changed for me but also how much I was lying to myself. The post wasn't entirely true with how well I was doing in my recovery at the time but the point of the post was to highlight that things aren't perfect for me and I was still struggling but I am fighting and I will never give up. I'm so happy to know that although there are still relapses and hard times, I have never given up and I never will. (Also you'll notice that the post was published in July- not June- because we got confused at the month we started the blog...woops)
When I originally tweeted and wrote about my relationship with myself, people were very confused, I described myself as both my saviour and my own villain. It was a very strange way of me expressing that we are made of both good and bad but if we embrace the bad and accept that it helps to shape who we are then we can truly accept ourselves as a whole. At this point, I was taking the phrase "fake it till you make it" to heart. The post was my way of telling myself that although I have these issues and my life isn't perfect, but it has shaped me as a person and for that, I can never be more grateful for my circumstances. You have to truly embrace every single part of your soul in order for you to be truly happy with yourself.
In May 2015, we made one of the biggest changes ever to our blogging experience; we changed our name and our niche. It was beginning to get very difficult being a Mental Health blogger, for Alyssa it was becoming something that she didn't want to do because she was trying to get over her issues now that she had dealt with them (so blogging was reinforcing it rather than letting her get on with her life). For me, it was a situation where I felt a little monotonous and like I was saying the same thing during each post. This was mainly because I was blogging about the kind of things that I personally needed to hear so I was just vocalising it on here. The change of the blog meant that we could still include mental health posts but that we could also talk about more things that we enjoy in our everyday lives.
January 2015 signified the start of a new series called Sticks and Stones which was almost like a little review of who we liked to thank that month, some facts and information about that specific month, some yoga poses, a smoothie recipe and much more. This series was very short lived due to other things going on in our lives but its something that I'm very open to maybe launching in the future. Let me know in the comments!
Another series I launched was called the A-Z of Recovery. I once again found the picture on Pinterest and thought it was a perfect piece of inspiration for 26 blog post titles. I'm really excited for actually writing these posts because our recovery based posts are always so popular and you all say they're really helpful. This so far only has an introduction post but the first post for this series has already been drafted ready for the actual launch later this year!
Our quote " your attitude is your altitude; it determines how high you fly" was originally found on Pinterest (I think) with no mention of who had created it but personally that quote just fit so well with what we were beginning to feel and what we are trying to express to you all. We all may have our own issues in this life but it is the way that we react and the ways that we deal with them that can either boost us or hinder us.
Your constant support has constantly been a reminder to me to stay strong because I am loved and I can make a difference in this world. I am here to remind you that life is like a rollercoaster so you have to endure the lows, enjoy the highs and just celebrate the ride. You're all going to get through this.
Thank you all from the bottom of my heart.
Love,
Louise x
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