blogging
Showing posts with label blogging. Show all posts
what i've written so far
But on most days, inspiration comes in waves, and like a surfer, I'll have to swim forward and catch it in perfect time. When the wave recedes, again I wait for another to arrive, and for me to make the most of it once more. Sometimes they surface in forms of crafty metaphors or eloquent vocabulary. Other times they surface in the form of stories, words of advice, or when my soul is just brimming with musings.
Recently, the things I've been writing are often somewhat personal; close to my heart. Therefore, I'm often very insecure about my writing. But lately, hearing how the people around me seem to enjoy reading my words and agreeing with my thoughts have brought me a type of joy unlike any other. So I briefly made a small compilation of some of the articles I've written in the past, if anyone were to read them.
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Caution: The posts I've chosen can be quite lengthy. And some of these ramblings make me cringe as I read through them. But here I am, embracing it fully, in the hopes of letting you into my thoughts through different doors and pathways.
2017
- "I Quit Social Media for a Week"
- "Things I Need to Tell Myself (2)"
- "The Art of Finding Confidence"
- "The Art of Embracing Defeat"
- "4:58 PM"
- This untitled piece on heartbreak and emotion.
2016
- "Living with Perfectionism"
- "Life Lately | Internships, Harvard, and More" (I wrote this in the first semester of senior year in high school, so all the events by now are already quite outdated, but in it still some silver lining thoughts came to light)
Sometimes, though, I write in pure sarcasm; you can find those articles here and here. If you wish to see some travel posts (which are more visual than they are literate) I suggest this recent one from Bali, or the one from Melbourne when I went last year.
As a closing note, I'd just like to say thank you. If it's your first time here, or if you've read some of my work before, or if you've ever told me you liked my writing, I could not write any words as to how much I appreciate it. This blog is in no way "popular", and it's not that I have thousands of online followers, but simply knowing that what I write can make an impact on how you see things, or how you feel, knowing that my words resonated with you in any way, is more, more, more than enough. Thank you for sticking around, and for hearing my voice as I spoke.
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As a closing note, I'd just like to say thank you. If it's your first time here, or if you've read some of my work before, or if you've ever told me you liked my writing, I could not write any words as to how much I appreciate it. This blog is in no way "popular", and it's not that I have thousands of online followers, but simply knowing that what I write can make an impact on how you see things, or how you feel, knowing that my words resonated with you in any way, is more, more, more than enough. Thank you for sticking around, and for hearing my voice as I spoke.
'Til next time.
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LIFE: Advantages and Disadvantages to Blogging
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| Source: Pinterest |
Blogging comes with its own advantages and disadvantages. Personally, I only started out on a whim. It wasn't a calling or a big life project or a quest to seek something bigger than life. It was simply I wanted to start doing because of how I always have so much to say and no one to say it to.
As you might have noticed, I had decided to take a long break from blogging (I practically went a whole month without it) and frankly, these were very refreshing weeks. It was nice to live life as it is, without letting the pressure of blogging about everything shadow over it. I've done so many things this summer break and today, I'm ready to come back.
Lately, I've been thinking a lot about how this activity has added to and diminished a lot of things inside my life as it is. I've been blogging for about 6 months now and I can tell you that sometimes, it's not easy, yet it has felt so wonderful at the same time. To just clear things out, I wanted to make a post that has the list of pros and cons when it comes to blogging.
Advantages:
- The blogging community and great networking! - Blogging has given me the opportunity to look into the lives of other bloggers I follow located all around the world. The working lady from Australia, the creative stay-at-home in New York, or the college graduate from Ireland, it's always interesting to be updated about how other bloggers are doing in their own lives. I adore how, in this community, we share our ideas and thoughts and build each other up, showing interest in one another and what the other has been up to lately. It's a very lovely bond to be in.
- It's a space suitable for both professional and personal matters. - Professionally, blogging is a space where we're exposed to things like collaborations, guest posts, sponsors, etc. The whole process where brands visit and take notice of your blog, then contact you and decide to sponsor you, has to be one of the newest things to experience out of blogging. It serves as a wonderful bonus to blogging. But at the same time, since your blog belongs to you only, you're also free to talk about the things from your heart that matters to you, or the things in your life that has been going through your mind.
- It helps increase productivity. - Creating content for your blog doesn't always come from the items you purchase, because simply buying things is not enough for you to post on your blog. Hauls are great, but can be dull. What blogging does is it pushes you to go out and do some serious thinking or doing. You think of a new recipe to post, you feel a stronger urge to finish that book so you can talk about it, or you start a brand new DIY project for you to write about. You take your own pictures, and start doing more things in your life that can basically keep your blog interesting. It comes naturally and is a great way not to waste your time on just being lazy.
- It serves as a great source for inspiration. - When you think about it, blogging is literally the expanded version of Pinterest. It's always good to have a niche, but I'm sure that none of us like to follow the exact same type of blogs as we go. From all the different blogs we do follow, we pick up on how to make new, different things. From beauty, fashion, health, lifestyle, any category of blogs can provide us with fresh ideas that we can apply into our own lives and from there, it keeps things from being boring.
- You're free to post about anything you desire. - And lastly, the most obvious thing of all is how we are not limited to only post about certain things. Your blog is yours to handle, to keep, and to take care of. You can create anything you want, talk about anything you want, and share about anything you want. You're not obligated to follow any rules. It's a space where you can be free to share about any type of experience, or discovery.
- You still have to cope with the bad days. - Blogging is wonderful, but at times, it really doesn't help how you still do need to endure days where you're not feeling like yourself. There are days where you won't feel like doing a new DIY or going outside to take pictures, there are days where you'll just be tired and worn out, not ready to do anything. I'm sure many bloggers relate to how blogging does create the illusion of a constantly perfect, smooth-sailing life, but the fact is, there are some things that blogging can't fix.
- It does require a lot of purchasing things. - I would personally categorise this as an unpopular opinion, but when you're running a blog, let's be honest, you do have to keep buying things. I'm not saying purchasing things that make us happy is bad, but blogging does encourage us to keep coming back to that book store for new books we can review, or to try out those new arrivals we saw at Sephora. You get the idea.
- It's a whole other thing you need to arrange a schedule for. - Just like school or college or something like going to the gym, blogging is something that takes a whole lot of effort and time-managing. It's not a good idea to simply go out on a whim for each of your posts. In blogging, you do need to take a portion of your time everyday to work on the content of your blog, which isn't always easy. You need to prepare topics, and then schedule when you'll publish each post you've come up with. A blog always needs to be constant and reliable.
- It's easy to be discouraged. - Of course, when it comes to blogging, gaining followers is crucial. Having a steady, growing audience is mostly what bloggers need to be motivated to maintain their blog so that it may reach new levels and evolve to bigger blogs. But the truth is, gathering an audience like so is anything but easy. Blogging takes time to master, even the famous bloggers took 5 years at least to reach where they are right now.
And that's all I have to say on this subject. I do hope that this has turned out to be informative and helpful to those who are thinking of starting a blog, or just relatable to those out there who already have a blog, like me! But overall, I am proud of what I've achieved so far and how I've completely turned myself into a blogger with a growing and developing blog despite how I still have to struggle through high school.
Have you thought of other disadvantages or advantages when it comes to blogging? Leave a comment below and tell me what they are! I'd be glad to hear what you have to say.
Reasons I Wouldn't Follow a Fashion Blogger
I realised some time ago that there is a difference between running a fashion blog and actually becoming a fashion blogger. As I run a fashion and lifestyle blog (where I do talk about fashion and post about fashion), I probably couldn't be considered as a "fashion blogger" yet.
But basically, I follow a very unhealthy number of fashion bloggers through my social media accounts. I literally follow so many of them, but I have come across some bloggers I just didn't choose to follow. Listed below are reasons why I would not follow a fashion blogger that I find.
- They don't use good quality pictures. - I'm not saying every fashion blogger should own or use a DSLR camera, but I am saying that good quality pictures are very important when you're trying to highlight a certain look. You can use any pocket camera (even your phone sometimes), as long as you have good lighting and the photos are well-edited. Also the size of course!
- They never say anything in their posts! - Okay, I get if you're not a person who likes to write. But it is so important for your followers to know what you've been up to, or the story behind your outfit, or how your day is going. Only a few sentences would do! I've followed a few fashion bloggers who only post pictures on their posts, and nothing else. Frankly, I felt like I didn't know them at all! All I'm saying is if I only wanted pictures, I could just follow your Instagram.
- They don't actually "style", they just wear. - The reason you are called a fashion blogger is because you are to express yourself through the fashion you wear and the styling decisions you choose. So honestly, if it's just to promote that $200 dress with no accessory whatsoever, I tend to have my doubts. You have to style as much as you can.
- They post every 145273 years or something. - Maybe it's just my impatience, but I do not want to end up following that one blogger who only posts once every 3 months or something. You don't have to post everyday, true. But I think fashion bloggers should post three or four times a week, or maybe just once a week, once in two weeks at least! Posting too rarely kind of implies that you're expecting your followers to just stick around to wait for your next post. No, we're just gonna leave.
- They tell us to shop at brands that cost at least $100 per item. - I never have any problem with the endorsements or advertising that bloggers do, but please don't expect me to buy those $500 shoes from Jeremy Scott. I do follow plenty of famous and successful bloggers who wear very high-end clothing, but I really like the ones who wear everyday, affordable clothes. Makes me think you don't have to be rich to blog.
- Their actual blog doesn't look like a blog. - A blog definitely needs a good navigation system, like putting tabs, and adding a good template, and whatnot. But the thing is, I like seeing blogs that look like blogs. As pretty as they can be, I like blogs that make me believe it's just a fashion blog with posts from a real fashion blogger person. This kind of doesn't happen whenever I enter a blog and then there's this really complicated layout that I have to kind of adapt to. It's like visiting Style.com and not a fashion blog. I do have to give them some credit because that must've taken a lot of HTML work, but I really just prefer normal-but-pretty looking blogs.
- Their taste in fashion collides with my own personal style. - Lastly, this one's kind of a no-brainer, but I obviously will not follow you if we have very different taste in fashion. I adore following fashion blogs because they provide me with a daily dose of fashion inspiration. Obviously, there's never much to say if the person I'm following wears nothing that I would wear personally. So figuring out how a blogger chooses their style is a big deal for me. If you have a very Japanese-neon-kawaii vibe, for example, to your OOTDs, then I probably won't follow you. Although it isn't a personal thing, it's still something that keeps me from following a fashion blogger.
So that's all for today's post! I can't wait to share with you my next post because it's gonna be really great and different. I hope you stay tuned!
Are you a fashion blogger? If yes, did you find this useful? Do you follow a lot of fashion bloggers? What makes you not follow one? Leave a comment below, I'd love to know what you think!
Have an awesome day!
*The fashion blogger I put in the picture above is Chiara Ferragni from the Blonde Salad. I know this post is talking about reasons I wouldn't follow a fashion blogger but I have nothing against Chiara, I'm just using her photo because she's very well-known, and have a good number of photos in high quality. I hope this didn't offend anyone.
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