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Blogging Storytelling

Blogging Year In Review

I started blogging 9 years ago in February. My blog has reached the point where admitting your age isn’t fun anymore.

During the past 12 months, I created 17 posts, which isn’t much, but it’s more than I’d have thought. My kids featured in 7 of them (the best ones, in my opinion) and 4 or 5 posts were about the little nothings that happen at home on a mundane Monday.

10 of the posts were about travel and 14 were decorated with travel photos, regardless of the topic. If you’ve followed me for a while, you might have noticed that my photos rarely have anything to do with the story I’m telling.

My favourite posts from the past blogging year are:

Workation In Sunny Spain: The Future Of Work (I can’t believe a whole year has passed since our month in Spain!)

Colour Week And The Boring Existence Of Grown-Ups

Some Words and Unrelated Photos (What was I just saying?!)

Cool Copenhagen (By far, my favourite! I was in the zone, you writers know what I mean! It just flowed.)

Jellyfish Jumpers and Sunglass Swimmers

Prague and Some Scones

Check them out if you missed them! If you didn’t miss them, then thank you very much for reading them!

I changed jobs in August and now I write for a living. I’m working in content marketing and I love it. It’s a huge upgrade from my previous job and work place. But as a consequence, I’m all written out by the end of the day. Instead of sitting at home writing, I’ve gone back to the gym, after a long absence.

There’s still a part of me that wants to write more – creatively, telling stories – but I just have nothing left in me to tell right now.

Sometimes, I think I should stop blogging before the blog turns 10, for no other reason than the fact that 10 years of blogging is an enormously long time. Could it have been spent better? I don’t know. Perhaps not. Writing is certainly a more productive way to spend your free time than watching Netflix (which I also do a lot of!).

But I really enjoy chatting with all of you people from all over the world, and I’ve found so many kindred spirits here. I love hearing when the first flowers have bloomed in Germany, what today’s snorkeling was like in Hawaii, or what kind of hot chocolate can be found in London. I think I’ll stick around.

69 replies on “Blogging Year In Review”

I think I’m coming up on 12 years this spring, and I’ve nearly hung it up several times. I also seem to stick around for the community. Of course I assume that one of these days I’m just not going to have anything to say anymore.

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Congratulations on your almost anniversary! Our stories are quite similar as I’ve been blogging for almost the same time. As a relative new follower I’ll have to go back and read those earlier posts you mentioned. I’m glad you’re doing what you love now with regards to work. Writing and gym is a nice balance! But it’s great too to keep the blog going, even if they’re only occasionally. I agree with you, that the connection and chatting is the best part. Happy blogging and happy January 😁

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So nice to see you here, thank you for following! So many of us seem to have blogged for more or less a decade. I wonder if new bloggers experience the same kind of community feeling or maybe it’s part of how we learned to see blogging. In any case, I’m so grateful to be part of it! Happy blogging to you, too!

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I always love the randomness of your photographs. They are very nice pictures, so why not :). Hope you’ll stay around. I also wrote only half of the year before. Who cares. As long as what you write is fun for you, all is well.

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Thanks, Robin! Well said. I was actually just saying to my kid about his new hobby, that the most important thing is that it’s fun. A good reminder that that definitely applies to us full-grown people, too! It could be easy to turn hobby-blogging into a chore or, worse, a goal-oriented enterprise.

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Well Snow, I would not want to miss the irregular but dealy loved messages from Helsinki. I re-read your Copenhagen post and it made me smile again. And your pictures may hardly have anything to do with your write up, but they have value on their own. Sometimes I even recognize the spot you pictured, in a header or so. 🙂 Congrats with your 9 years (I’m starting with my 9th now) and please do stick around.

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Thanks, Peter, for always showing up! ☺️ No wonder you recognise the places, as we have so many travel destinations in common! And you’ve even visited Helsinki. Good to see that many of us have stuck around for this long – blogging would leave an empty hole in my life if I stopped. Maybe at some point, it’d get filled by something else, or maybe not.

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I am glad to hear that at this point, you will stick around in the blogging world, Snow. And congrats on the job.
For the first time ever, I have questioned my blogging life, simply because like you, I write professionally now. That exhausts my writing time and energy as you alluded. As for creative fiction, I teach Creative Writing to Seniors at a University – and I write for the class just like every student in my class. We just produced our first anthology. So fun!
But… that means creative depletion by the time I am at home and looking at the computer and little time for blog posts. Previously, I was blogging a lot – especially during Covid it was a great way to communicate, but now…..
I still have almost 180 blog posts drafts so there is still some more to come, but I don’t have that burning desire to churn out a blog post anymore. I can also relate to the invaluable pleasure derived from a semi-continuous and novel dialogue with a global audience, and the friendships I have made through this platform. So while I haven’t been writing posts, I still read the blogs. Although I cannot read all of them that I follow, I do always read your posts. I also comment here and there on many other blogs. I think this is a natural transition to reduce blogging time and if I finally retire completely, blogging may again fill up the writing urge again.
Way better than Netflix! And it is from the horse’s mouth – an independent voice unfiltered by media moguls. Always a bonus.

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180 drafts!!!! Wow!!! That’s impressive. I have maybe 7 drafts, mostly photos that I’d like to use and they’re just waiting for the right moment. Sometimes I jot down an idea. But when I’m inspired, I just write. The ideas in my drafts will probably never turn into posts.
Congrats on the anthology, that is very cool! And must be a great feeling to get something concrete done! That’s why I sometimes question blogging: it doesn’t produce a finished end product like, say, a book. Should I be focusing my energy on a book, instead? But then I like the ease of blogging – the freedom, indulging in your mood, throwing coherence out the window if I so choose – I’m my own boss here!
I enjoy your blog posts, too! I haven’t been commenting as much as I’d like to lately because I seem to be constantly distracted, unfocused. I might read something, have a few thoughts, but jotting them down feels overwhelming. That’s new, too, and hopefully temporary.
And yes, love hearing about life directly from people, not the media!

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Distraction is the new cancer, so they say, Snow. I recently read a book called Stolen Focus and mentioned it in a previous post. https://forestwoodfolkart.wordpress.com/2023/06/18/why-we-dont-read-anymore/
The author talked a lot about distraction and multi-tasking. Multi-tasking is something that Mums have to do – all the twins, doubly so with twins. Hopefully it is as you say a temporary phenomenon. I hate the feeling of distraction myself. Digitally detoxing for a weekend did seem to help me, so I should do that more regularly.
You mentioned the wasted blog posts as you don’t see them as something concrete. Many bloggers have formulated a book based on their blog posts and musings. Could your posts be the way of starting something like that – a legacy project for your kids to read when they are older. It wouldn’t take as much work as starting a novel from scratch. More so just editing. I have thought about this a lot myself….

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It’s a good idea, Amanda. I might look into it. If I made one just for the kids, ”Stories from your childhood”, that might make sense. Otherwise, for a wider audience, I don’t know. But as a legacy, a gift for the kids, it might work!
And multitasking: yes, it’s a horrible habit. My new work place focuses on the concept of agility and in that is included the idea of completing one thing before you move onto the next one. Of course, with multiple clients, we still have things going for each of them, so there is never just one thing. But it still does calm things down a lot and I like the feeling of getting something done. In my previous job, tasks were never 100% finished and there was no focus.
I think I’ve read that post of yours! But I’ll check ☺️

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It is heartening to read that your new employer values sustained work in one mode rather than the debunked multitasking. I wish you more job satisfaction! So glad you will consider a legacy project for your kids. I would have loved to have something like that to read from my own mother.

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So nice! My final workplace before I retired and started writing was a very supportive and nurturing place, apart from the final few months I was there. A new Manager changed the whole tone. It really is true that the man or woman at the top dictates the pervasive mindset of a business. Your boss must be wholesome!

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All your posts are winners in my book and your photos have the same spirit as your writing, so are a great accompaniment. I’m glad to hear you’re enjoying your new job. I’ve found that there are ebbs and flows in writing so perhaps you’ll find balance between writing for work and for yourself. We ditched Netflix a few months ago and I can’t say I miss it. We were mostly just watching things we’d seen before! Happy New Year to you and remember, the days are already getting longer!

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Thanks, Graham, so saying such nice things about my blogging! I’d like to ditch Netflix, too, but then I wouldn’t know what to do with myself. I tried going back to reading but it turns out, I’m a very picky reader! Finding a book I enjoy is as hard as finding something new and enjoyable on Netflix.
Happy 2024 to you, too! And yes, I’m already thinking of spring, I can almost feel it! (Still mid-winter, though!)

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I absolutely love your photography. Your month in Spain inspires me. I’ve been considering spending the whole of December in South Africa. Your post has inspired me to talk about it with my boss

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What a co incident! I opened my WP aap after ages this is first post in my reader tab and I was / am away from my blog for years because of baby and things but your post inspired me to start blogging again soon, thank you!

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they certainly do become a big part of our lives, mostly for the interactions I feel. and of course gives me something to do in my retirement. :=)

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It’s the little, unexpected details that make a good blog post for me. Of all the photos you shared here, I was most captivated by the one by the shore of some ocean or sea. So tranquil and inviting. Glad you plan to “stick around”.

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I had my first blog in 2006 that lasted about 10 years. Then this thing called life got in the way. The one I have now is my life and the lessons I’ve learned and observed. The blogging world has changed so much since then. The biggest changed is of course is technology. The other thing I have noticed is that some people insist on writing novels.

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Everyone is writing novels, I agree! It started during Covid, I think. (I was busier than ever, but apparently some people had extra time!) And yet I find it hard to track down a genuinely good novel.
Happy to hear you started blogging again – you were an early bird. Have you noticed changes in the interactions – are the comments sections more social now, or less, in your opinion?

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This novel writing started long before Covid but has gotten worse. There is much more meanness. When you look the definition of what a is Blogs are a type of regularly updated websites that provide insight into a certain topic. Those days are long gone and have been for a very long time. Of course so many people claim they have a blog but in realty what they are ways to promote their own political or social beliefs. Back then there was certain trust and respect for others thoughts

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If you stay, I’ll stay! At least I’m reading, if not writing. Hard to believe I’ll hit 10 years with my blog in April; I can’t say it’s been very productive lately, but even blogs are allowed to take rests, no? Enjoy the rest of your winter!

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Congrates on your new career & 9 years blogging Snow! I am so glad to come across your blog. It never fails to fill me with enjoyable funny stories and unrreleavant yet lovely photos from up north. So glad you are sticking around. I rarely have time to properly write down a post due to ‘life’ is always rushing and time is never enough. I do hope that I could dive in better when I ‘retire’, haha! Till your next inspiration strike, see you here in WP 😘

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Since 2011! Quite unbelievable although mostly just active when I backpack and during lockdown period after that. I like being in WP community and read about other bloggers life, thoughts and the photos from everywhere! Just lovely. See you my friend! 😘

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I think I’m also coming up on 9 years but I don’t blog about my life. At first it was a way to keep writing something when any writing of my creative projects didn’t appeal to me. So don’t look at the number of posts as long as you enjoy it when you have the time and inspiration to do. Happy 9 years

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Thanks Garc and happy blogoversary to you, too! I’m amazed at how many of us have kept it up for so long – and happy to hear I’m not the only one! Lately I’ve been concentrating more on quality than quantity on purpose, too. I want to write a text that I’m happy with and my style is more storytelling than reporting (or selling, advising, listing, as all those SEO blogs tend to do. I don’t aim for SEO because it’s just a hobby and anyway, no one would search for my topics.) I simply aim to improve my writing and also to enjoy what I’m doing 🤩

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Happy 9 years. That’s a huge accomplishment. I’m only a few months in as I did give up a few times along the years and am starting from scratch. Blog when you feel the need to write and chat with us will all be here.

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