hey it’s been a while | a honest chat about blogging and going forward

Hello everyone!!

I hope you are all well and please feel free to give me any sort of life update in the comments because it has been TOO long.

If you still remember me, I’m impressed as it has been like *mutters under my breath* 6 months since I blogged and I’m going to talk about that is a moment but, first, I’m going to talk about two things…. 

 

(1) thank you !!

Thank you so much for everyone who thought to nominate me in the book blogger awards this year. This is really delayed, although I had thanked everyone who tagged me in a post, but I wanted to do an acknowledgement here despite it being months later. It was so unbelievably sweet and unexpected for you to think of me even though I wasn’t blogging. It honestly came at such a needed time and it really did make my day. I really bad at expressing how thankful I am so just imagine me saying thank you repeatedly. Any and all support is always appreciated and I’m so very grateful. My hiatus has just emphasised how much I love this community.

(2) blog design !!

Next important, hopefully noticeable, thing is I’ve redecorated my blog. I always wanted to do a complete remodel of my blog as I have never really done one and I felt like a change as I wasn’t in love with my old design anymore. So, a month (or so) into my hiatus, I thought it was the perfect time to put my blog on ‘coming soon’ and do it.

buuutttt…  then I procrastinated and then I was very indecisiveness about it all. (no I didn’t redesign my blog three times in the slowest manner possible, that was someone else)

But the procrastination method did *eventually* work and after pain and hard work a bit of work (and too many punnets of strawberries) WE DID IT!!  

So, what was the design inspiration?

Honestly…. I don’t know. It has a bit of 90’s/vintage inspiration with obviously the main colours as red and pink. Also, strawberries are included because…. honestly, strawberry shortcake (lol). It is simple but it also feels more put together than my last design. I know it doesn’t make sense really but here we are. 

BUT…. the biggest change (and most exciting change) is I have a home page. Yaaayy!! *everyone cheers* It serves no purpose but making me happy. Check it out. (no pressure though)

Now on to my chat about blogging….

what I’ve been doing (aka why have I been gone so long)

This is my second, third, fifth time writing this as I just can’t seem to word it right. I also seem to have the talent to keep rambling on and on and on (an issue I still have). I’m currently sat here contemplating what to write (and whether I should order some waffles). BUT I am determined to post this today (lol, I didn’t, this is a new day)

You probably don’t need a giant explanation, but I wanted to say this. So, let’s start at the beginning. 

Ever since 2020 started in January I was thinking about when my hiatus was going to be but there was always a post I wanted to get done (i.e., my birthday, Beth’s nook etc.) so it kept getting delayed, but it was always on my mind, ‘I’m going to have a break’, ‘I’m going to have a break’. It was weird to be craving a break like I was whilst also being excited for new content. They seem like two feelings that shouldn’t go together; wanting a break from something you love. 

This year I wanted to be more chill with blogging as it is very time-consuming, and I wanted to learn how to better balance blogging with other things in my life. Whilst in 2019, I prioritised it above a lot of things because it was new and exciting (and like the one thing in life I didn’t feel like I was totally failing at). But when I wanted to be chill, I found that I just felt guilty because I was doing less than last year or I kept telling myself I could be doing more now. Even when I was resting, it was all about what I should be doing for my blog. To be fair, I can be easily overwhelmed and because it was the one thing I felt like I wasn’t completely failing at, I think I was over-relying on it to be the perfect thing. Basically, I got stressed then I blamed myself and got even more stressed. 

Hence why I think I wanted a hiatus so I could just chill and re-evaluate things in my life a little bit. It was nice to be able to use by free time a bit more flexibly and to work towards new goals. I’ve definitely felt more relaxed. But, to improve on balance I actually have to try to balance better instead of stopping one thing altogether plus I love blogging and the community, so I genuinely want to come back to blogging. I want to get my life in order, not to be dramatic, so I’m writing this to hold myself accountable in a way. Part of me wanting to get my life in order involves my blog because I love it and want to do it. So… my new plan is to work on everything in moderation using goal setting and time management to become a healthy person who looks like they have their sh*t together and to not feel like a failure. Any tips would be greatly appreciated!! 

 

A Brief Summary:

1. blogging
2. stress
3. poor time management
4. stress
5. feeling like a failure in everything
6. hiatus
7. still feeling like a failure
8. new plan?!?!?!?! 

I have honestly been so nervous about returning to blogging. I’ve had some many ‘start dates’ that I’ve missed as I keep putting it off because I really don’t want to sink into the same patterns as before. I want to be better at like… everything and I don’t want to fail again. But I think I need to be a bit more reasonable with myself and focus on little steps. 

On a more positive note (sorry this post has been so down) I am genuinely excited about the new content, which you will probably see next year. I don’t have a schedule for when I’m posting or how much, but I have a few posts I will be focusing on getting up as they are end-of-the-year posts etc. Then hopefully in the new year, I can bring you my new ideas. I may be less active or have weeks off but I’m trying to embrace that side more, so I don’t feel so overwhelmed.

Obviously after a hiatus all my stats are going to be a lot lower, but it makes it feel less daunting in a way and I much prefer to focus on the enjoyment and people. Although I have gone on about how stressful blogging can be (a lot of it down to myself), the community is really what make it such a lovely, supportive and positive place to be so thank you all once again. I hope I didn’t come across ungrateful in this post as I do really appreciate everything blogging has given me but I just wanted to do an honest update about how I was/am feeling and hold me accountable to myself in some way. (You know what they say, write down your feelings and publish them on the internet)

My Goals Going Forward…

1. To create new content that I’m excited about (including new features)
2. To learn to get a balance that I’m happy with (I want to establish a really strong writing routine)
3. To talk more about specific books (going through my old posts made me realise I rarely talk about books except in tags, oops)
4. Maybe Improve on editing (I hate it and I suck at it. Not a great combo to be honest. I think I had improved this year, but I can definitely still improve)
5. Remember it’s okay to have a week off and you don’t need to feel guilty about falling behind. Your blog should adapt to your needs, not you adapting to what you think your blog needs. 

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Thank you SO much for reading!!!

What have you been up to lately?? Have you had any similar thoughts on blogging?? What are your go-to tips??

I promise my next post is going to be about books (in fact it is going to be about 60)