I'm forever talking about how long I've been blogging and just how much it has changed my life etc. but today actually signifies my 3rd year doing this! Now, some people could (and have) look at what I do and think that I'm not very "progressed" considering how long I've had this account. There are most definitely others who are more "successful" and when they have been doing this less time than me it can be a little demotivating but my little slice of internet is my happy place. I would not give it up for anything!
It feels weird writing this post purely because it wasn't that long ago that I wrote something similar. Purely for my own memories, I wanted to use this post as a way to recap all of the great things that have been accomplished over the years!
One of the things I'm very proud of myself for is actually sticking to my goal of writing the A-Z of recovery posts. I had started it a while ago but then left the rest of the posts that should follow it. So far I have been able to write the first 3 and I have the others scheduled to go live every month
I've been getting back to my roots a lot lately, although I changed the name of the blog, the Mental Health and advice posts I used to write are still something that is important to me and that I'm passionate about so I've been implementing them whenever I feel inspired or am in the need of a pick-me-up myself.
Ive been getting a lot better at sharing more about my personal life with you guys lately. While I'm pretty much an open book about some of my recovery, I haven't really let you guys in on any of the other aspects of my life. You probably wouldn't have known what I look like until I posted the 10 things about me post on my birthday. This was my way of showing you all another little piece of my soul.
My 100th post! It feels so refreshing to know that our journey has been documented somewhere where I can go back and relive those moments. to now be able to say that this will be the 130th post! The number keeps climbing and all doubts over years about continuing this just seem so silly. I'm so very proud of this little space!
Our very first post was written 2 years and 9 months ago! How frigging crazy is that?! It's a typical, cheesy line but it really does feel like just yesterday that I was talking with Alyssa about wanting to have a social media account that allowed me to express my feelings, share my story and maybe help someone. I never really thought that it was going to happen but just look at me now! I was using all these other accounts for inspiration and it was something I was so happy about doing, nearly 3 years down the line and I still love it.
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 all the time 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. You never know what might happen
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.
I found something that I had written at the end of the post commemorating my 100th post and it is still so true;
"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."
I want to thank you all for everything that you do, for reading my posts, my tweets, liking my photos on Instagram and just in general for being a part of my life. I have so many wonderful things planned for the future of Empty Journal and I hope that you will all be there to share it with me!
Thank you all from the bottom of my heart.
Love,
Louise x
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