It’s been three months since I last blogged on this platform for public consumption and before that post, the one before was in June. If we’re being completely honest, the last blog post I really poured my heart into this year, was as far back as April.
I’ve been blogging but it was just so the hosting fees I pay, don’t go to waste. However, recently and rightly so, the urge to get back to writing as much as I used to has been tugging at my heart. I don’t mean just product reviews. I mean, writing about other life issues that do really matter to me.
Recently, I started a new job (I’ll tell you all about that in a later post) and during the interview, one of the questions the interviewer asked me was if I still write on my blog. And the answer was no! At least, not as much as I used to. It occurred to me, how much I had really neglected this space but to the topic of this post, why exactly did I stop blogging?
I stopped blogging for more reasons than one. The first was the ‘are blogs dying’ trend. If you’re very familiar with the blogosphere, you will agree with me that people generally don’t read blogs as much as they used to. Video content has become the order of the day and if you aren’t giving quality video content, people seem not to be really interested in what you have to offer, anymore.
I love video content. Growing up, aside from writing (to be an author), my dream was to be a TV host and that probably explains why I majored in Broadcasting at University. The rush of flashing your teeth before a camera and just have words rolling off your tongue gave me such a rush! The glitz, the glam, the sass! However, I am human and on some days, I cannot muster the energy to flash my teeth across the camera for people’s viewing pleasure. Again, I digress. You’re here to know why I stopped blogging, abi? Okay, let’s continue.
I got busy and lazy. I moved to Canada in 2018 to pursue a post-graduate degree in Advertising and if I tell you, school drilled me? Best believe that the word, ‘drill’ doesn’t even cut it. Aside from the intense imposter syndrome I felt being in that class and feeling like I didn’t know jack enough to be there, I had to work twice as hard to overcome my fears, navigate living in a new land with no family and have smashing grades, all on my own. You probably don’t know this but I’m very competitive so the desire to be the best at everything is a dangerous high I get intoxicated in, ever so often. Hence, I put my all into school.
I blogged a few times, tried to take Instagram and YouTube more seriously because video content is king but I still couldn’t keep up. I just promised myself that I wasn’t going to waste my parents’ hard-earned dollars in this land. So, I gave school everything and graduated with honours. Shouldn’t I have documented all these on the blog? Like I mentioned earlier, I got busy and lazy. Lazy because I was too focused on gaining traction on other platforms that I did not have the mental bandwidth to stretch myself enough to write. I would write product reviews because frankly, they are easy to write as far as you say the truth (no shade) but writing from the heart and the mind doesn’t come as easy as a product review to me, except something triggers it.
I wrote deep stuff a few times but I didn’t think they were fit enough for public consumption so I archived them.
I also feel like good words should be accompanied by good pictures. I wasn’t a broke student but I wasn’t a very financially buoyant one, either. At least not the ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ type. Affording a photographer was out of the question. Also, taking photos myself was a hassle. How did I film videos, you may ask? I did them myself but they were definitely a struggle. Many pictures or videos I would take, would be out of focus because my camera didn’t have a flippable screen so I had to run from behind to the front of the camera, each time I wanted to take a photo/video and tried to find hacks to make it work. for some reason, I deceived myself into thinking my work wasn’t good enough and if I wasn’t happy with what I was putting out, what was the point? Sometimes, I forget that showing up is better than perfection but that’s a story for another day.
Showing up is better than perfection Click To Tweet
After studying Advertising, I went on to study Film and don’t even let me get started on the experience. Film school was tough. I went to school even on Sundays and had time for literally nothing else than assignments, talking to my family on WhatsApp video and eating. Film school was where I learnt that it was okay not to be the best at everything and sometimes, I should just sit my butt down and learn. Not every time competition, sometimes cooperation! And that, my friends, was exactly what I did. I graduated in the middle of a pandemic so I already knew my Advertising degree was my golden ticket. (The film industry in Canada is badly hit due to the pandemic and I have no idea when they will recover from this). All through this, blogging like I wanted to, was the last thing on my mind. I just wanted to be mentally and emotionally stable because quite frankly, I did weep a few times during this pandemic but that’s a moonlight tale for another night.
So, why am I back to blogging?
I miss pouring out myself in writing. Words are powerful enough to build a world that doesn’t even exist on the map. Writing makes me feel like I have sense. I know I have sense but when I write, it affirms me. Also, as I mentioned earlier, I do not always feel like putting my face in front of the camera so I’m back to my long-lost love; writing and I hope you will come on this journey back to self-discovery and affirmation, with me. I don’t know how people will take this change. I don’t know if people will read what I write but I will write regardless because words are timeless and writing reminds me that I have a good head on my shoulders.
Thanks for reading, don’t forget to share on your way out!