Oh hiyaaa. Just casually took a 3 month break from blogging, completely unintentionally. I haven’t done that in literal years. I actually don’t even have an excuse either. It just sort of, happened.
I’ve been writing on this lil corner of the internet for over 9 years, so blogging has just been part of my life. For a long time I didn’t even think about it, it was second nature. Experience the thing, take photos of the thing, write about the thing, press publish! A product or service I wanted to recommend to people? Post a blog! New travel adventure? Post a blog? Rant about motherhood? Post a blog! It became a way of life, my creative outlet, my version of journalling, therapy even.
But it also became something a little darker I think. It became my validation. I’d get that dopamine hit when someone liked a blog or shared something I’d written on Instagram. And I think I was a little very addicted to that hit. It can’t be healthy.
You see, for years my blog was also part of my income. I refused to go full-time when a lot of my peers were, because I didn’t think my anxiety could handle the trials and tribulation of being a freelancer. Although I did make a decent little side hustle income out of it. But that meant I felt like I had to take blogging super seriously. I had strategies and calendars and press packs. I felt under pressure to DELIVER FRESH CONTENT. People always make jokes about this kind of profession, but take it from me, it’s surprisingly hard work.
When I decided that I wanted blogging to be my hobby again and not have that pressure, I made out like the likes on Instagram didn’t bother me anymore, that I was doing this just for me so it didn’t matter. But looking back, I was still in the hamster wheel, churning out content like a machine. I was still doing press visits and accepting PR samples so that I had something to write about. This world of validation and likes is addictive you see.
So now I come to think about it, this 3 months of no blogging was actually quite needed. It gave me a bit of space to remember who I am. To remember that I publish blog posts because I like to write. Because I like to share things and be in a community. And I would like to continue with this vibe. I’ll post if and when I like. No commitment, no pressure, just when I have something I feel like sharing.
I’ve taken the same approach to my Instagram. I share whenever I like to. Sometimes that’s 20 stories in a day if I’m somewhere cool and I want to share it. Sometimes I don’t post for a week and don’t feel the need to apologise to my followers. Because quite frankly, I don’t owe anyone anything. My life is busy and taking the pressure off of something that is meant to be a hobby feels quite lovely.
What’s helped with this is turning off like counts as well. On both my posts and the posts I follow on Instagram. Because really, why does it matter? I’ve thought this for a while but refreshing your post to see how many likes it’s got is a tough habit to break. So the ability to turn off likes has been an actual game-changer. I recommend it.
So here’s to casual blogging again. And I don’t want to hear the term “blogging niche” ever again, thanks.
x
