On blogging or a delayed blog anniversary

I had planned to celebrate the fifth anniversary of my blog with a special post. A blog post that was meant to be shared with the world on 16 May. To mark the exact five years since my first words went public. I abandoned the small text drafted for the occasion, for months. In the past half year my creative side was distracted, tired, and did all it could to run away from me. I lacked the focus and the determination of sitting in a chair and write. To my excuse, I did a bit of travelling and I prioritised family and friends over the blog. The total number of words published on my blog was equal to zero for many months. Despite this, ideas and dialogues danced around in my head all the time (some are stored in my sacred notebooks).

Knowing this post is long overdue, I decided I want to share my views on the blogging experience anyway.

With encouragement from a few special friends and with the desire to step outside of my comfort zone, in May 2016 the first blog posts (the very first one here) went public. I do recall the emotions. It was a mix of scared enthusiasm with fear of testing unknown waters, next to questions about my ability to communicate in a language that is not my own. There was hope too, hope that my words will reach out to other souls. To be completely honest, I had serious doubts that people not related in any way to me will ever read what I wrote.

I do not know what the profile of the typical blogger is, or if one exists, but I will not include myself in any category. If the first impulse for blogging was towards overcoming some of my insecurities, in time the pleasure of writing and the desire to share my simple words with the world, grew into me. I could say down the road, I fell in love with the process of writing.

The writing was and still is a self-discovery journey. An exercise of cutting myself open and uncover in front of the world bits of my being. After all writing is a form of therapy that even trained medical professionals recognise.

True, using a pseudonym gives me anonymity and a safe space for self-expression. I want to stress out that the writing is the pure, pristine me. I write as I would talk to an old friend in front of which I do not need to be anything but me.

My writing evolved, and so did I. From the short posts from four, five years ago I slowly shifted to longer ones. I would not dare to call my writing a skill, but I guess the process is somehow similar to training any muscle in your body. At first, you start slow. Through practice, and almost unnoticeable, you increase the intensity. You become more confident and more resilient.

My first posts were timid, almost whispered. I was unearthing and rebuilding myself. I was learning to speak, and I was understanding that I have a voice. Through my blog I was, and still am, learning how to express myself. The blog helped me become a better communicator. It still does.

I started the blog as part of a recovery process (will share more on this, just not yet) and not for an audience. I admit though, it is an amazing feeling knowing that souls you do not know decided to read your simple words. It is a truly humbling experience. I am grateful beyond words for every single person who ever stopped for a few minutes to read what I have shared. I do have a handful of loyal followers, including family and close friends. All I can say is thank you for your support, encouragements, and for sticking around.

I kept myself outside of the huge hunger, almost violent, for being followed, viewed, liked, exposed. A trend visible not only on the blogosphere but on all social platforms. A lot of content is being poured out there. Not always of quality. Uncontrollable, constant flooding. As alluring it may be to have an impressive number of followers, I did not get into I am following you if you are following me. I will like&comment your posts, only to be liked back game. Not everything posted is worth paying attention to. And trust me, I had many one stop followers who left as quickly as they came.

I would rather have a small, dedicated audience than the illusion of being cheered by an empty crowd. It is a privilege having your words read. I respect my time and the time of my readers. There are millions of blogs out there. If a person stopped, even for a few minutes for check my words, I hope it was a meaningful experience and worth the time. Mutual respect and support in both ways can only create positive outcome. Feedback is necessary. Constructive criticism is welcomed.

My blog is personal and intimate. I want it warm, welcoming, real, and sincere.

My blog is about courage, about faith, about losing myself and (re)discovering who I am, is about family and friends. It is about life. Life as I see it and as I live it. I want to keep it this way.

In a bold move, I bought the domain sharingsimplewords.com. It was a huge step and felt bigger than starting the blog itself. I did it to secure my share of cyberspace. Sharing simple words is my online identity. I wanted it protected. And for as long as I will have the blog, I will keep the domain.

In these five years, I did not rush on publishing post after post. I had big gaps between texts, sometimes months. I wrote when clear thoughts and right words came together. Some texts took control over me. Words would line up effortlessly, one by one, giving to the post unexpected finality. More than once, I started with an idea only to end where my simple words, eager to be shared, wanted to take me.

My blog is a personalised album. A collection of pictures capturing specific moments in time. This blog is my online journal. It reflects my own evolution.

Speaking about pictures, sometimes choosing the right image for a text was more challenging that writing the text. In a moment of inspiration, I decided that the blog will be the place where I can share my love for flowers. With one exception, the beautiful sunrises published here are courtesy of my brother. Thank you, little brother, for allowing me to share the sun and the clouds with the world.

This blog forced me to become a little more comfortable with making mistakes (visibly and openly). A valuable lesson. I published texts that weren’t in their best shape, to say the least. Usually, I notice the typos or the grammar errors only after a post goes online. Thank you for bearing with me and for letting me grow.

Where do I see my blog in the future? Here I allow myself to dream 😊 – as the process of writing evolves (and myself along with it) I would like slowly and steadily to build a community. A community of souls that speak and resonate the same language. A place where the words, the feelings, the experiences (the good and the bad ones) are shared in a safe space, without any trace of judgement. A place of healing.

When I published my first words, I had no idea I was opening the door towards an enchanted world I was inviting you in.

Thank you for being part of it.

Lots of love,

Sharing Simple Words