The Joys of Blogging
I've been blogging for over three years now and I've loved every moment of it. In the past I've become caught up in some of the negative aspects in the community and it's easy to let them cloud your judgement of the online world. This space means so much to me I probably won't ever will able to put it into words, it got me through some really tough times when I had nothing but hospital appointments on the horizon. Over the past year it's evolved into something that I never imagined, a few days ago I hit 10,000 Bloglovin followers, 10,000! I can't even imagine that many people. The gratitude I feel for my readers is something that really can't be put down into words. I feel incredibly blessed to have the things that I have in my life right now and a lot of that is down to this blog. So here are the joys of blogging (to me):
Creative Freedom: Hands down my favourite thing about the blogging process is how much creative freedom I have. I can literally write about anything, any idea that pops into my head can be put down into a blog post. As From Roses started as a beauty blog I used to feel a little restricted to go outside my comfort zone and experiment with different kinds of posts but this year I have and I finally feel like I've found my feet with what I really want on this blog. I still love beauty of course, I always will and it will be something I'm passionate about for years to come but I wanted to talk more about subjects that are really important to me. There are no rules when it comes to blogging, no formula, literally none and that's important to remember.
Opportunities: The biggest thing to come out my blog is my relationship with Jen and starting our online magazine A Little Opulent. I've got a degree in Photography and I've started a printed magazine before but due to lack of funds I had to let it go and it was incredibly difficult. Since that point my passion for the editorial world never dwindled, you only have to walk into my bedroom to see that I'm passionate about what happens in those glossy pages. I've also had the chance to work with some awesome brands, although it's never been or is my ambition to work with PR's it's been a fantastic extra.
Confidence: As a child and well into my teens I was painfully shy, I could never speak to new people and now I really enjoy getting to know new people and I think a lot of is down to blogging. It has made me realise that there is nothing scary about getting to know new people and make new friends in fact it's pretty great. Not just socially though it's made me believe in myself and my work so much more, I never believed in myself at university. I'm a photographer (freelance) and getting to take pictures every single day is incredible as it's my number one passion. When I very first starting out blogging I was so worried about what other people would think about it, I thought that they would think that I was shallow or vain. I know just because I love beauty doesn't mean that I'm any of those things, it's something I'm incredibly passionate about yes but it's not the only thing I'm interested in. I'm also pretty passionate about politics, trains & transport,(daughter of a railway engineer), serial killer documentaries, design, biology, David Attenborough, history and equality. I think I speak for all beauty bloggers out there when I say we aren't dumb because we care about nail polish and skincare.
Personal Growth: If I ever go back through my archives, which is something I often to I can see such a big leap in how far I've come as a person. When I started doing this in 2011 I was a pretty unhappy university student who relied on shopping to make her happy. Now I'm a thousand times happier in myself and that shines through in my blog, no I've not got a dream life but what I do have is pretty damn awesome. It's not just me as a person that has grown, the work that I put on here is something that I'm incredibly proud of. I work every single day to make this space something that I adore and currently this is the happiest that I've ever felt with it. I'm constantly working on how I can improve things whether it's my photography, writing or general ideas it's something I put a lot of work into.
Community: There is a huge blogging community and 90% of the people in it are nothing short of amazing and I'm proud to be a part of it. I've made some great friends and talk to some lovely people on a day to day basis and it's so easy to forget that when online hate is so vicious. Personally I will never let somebody who sits at home thinking up nasty things to post on threads about bloggers ever affect my day. I pity people who are so miserable in their own lives and so obsessed with that of a complete strangers that they have to be so negative about them. So let us as bloggers make the community the best place it can be and continue to share the love. This is why I will always reply to every comment that is left on my blog, I love creating a relationship with the people that take the time to leave comments. I still remember two of the first girls that ever left comments on my blog, Tenniel and Fiona and I've become good friends with them ever since and would have never known them if it weren't for my blog.
Process & Meaning: Putting out a post everyday is something I love, hard work yes but not something I would ever change. The entire process of blogging is something I completely thrive from and genuinely adore, I probably sound a little obsessed but I really do love it that much. Sitting down and thinking of new content to put out and what way I will photograph or visually represent a post fills me with excitement everyday. As I have the job I do I can put a lot into this space and I'm incredibly lucky that I can do so. From Roses has become a huge part of my life and I wouldn't change that for the world as blogging is something that I'm so passionate about. There is so much creativity involved that it has endless possibilities and the future of blogging is incredibly exciting and not something that is respected enough in my opinion.
Finally I just wanted to say thank you, thank you to all of the people who choose to follow and support everything that I do. Without any of you I would have never started A Little Opulent and started on a career path that two years ago I was day dreaming about whilst sat my desk as a teaching assistant. My life really wouldn't be the same without this online space, it got me through some really low periods in my 20's and all of the people that come with it are to thank for that too and for that I'm truly grateful.
