Frankness before Followers
When I started this blog, I did so with the intention of keeping it honest, authentic, and being as transparent as possible. I really wanted to share the ugly side of things too, the non shiney parts of life. I feel like I am sticking to my intentions, but at the same time I can see where it can be easy to veer off.
I guess the reasoning behind why you start a blog plays a big part in how you will continue it. There is definitely some allure to having more people read your writing, its exciting. It may even make you think, what can I write about that people actually want to read? But if I do that, who is this blog for? How authentic could it possibly be?
When I first joined Instagram, it was for a kids club at my job. I seriously never used it and had absolutely no idea what to do, that is still pretty true. I think before I started my blog I had like 17 followers, I am now up to 100+, which is still so tiny compared to other people on that platform, but is also a huge jump from 17. I remember the day I got to 33 followers, I called a close friend and told her, that people I didn’t even know are following me on Instagram, isn’t that exciting? I asked her if she got excited when she got more followers on her photography page and she said not anymore. I was like whyyyyyy aren’t you excited for someone to see your work??? Turns out, the rising number can be come very addictive, to a point where that is all you care about, your focus is no longer on your passion, purpose, or sharing, but instead, how many FOLLOWERS you can get. She told me she didn’t like how consumed she was with trying to see if people were interested or finding her posts relevant, etc. so she stopped checking on it. This perspective from her was perfectly timed, it allowed me to go into this journey and remember why I started it. Now, I am not gonna lie, I still check my notifications when it says I have new followers, mostly because I like to see who is adding me, where they found me, and I wanna scope out all of their usually hilarious content. Y’all, they have moms on there that ONLY post memes and I am here for it, I feel like they are speaking directly to me with their snarky, non-curated content!
For as long as I can keep it up, I will continue showing my life and being open about the ups and downs. I really think of this blog as a never ending letter to myself. So 10 years from now, when I decide to look back on these posts, I want to see what my life was really like, not what I thought a few people on social media wanted it to be.
So stick to your guns. Be authentic, love every single part of you. You’re the only one on this earth that can live this life, do it for you, not for them!
