Warning: A Little Rant Ahead 🔜
I admit that I’m growing tired of feeling like I need to apologize for writing late blog posts. Are we still doing this monthly blog recap thing? Yes, we are. I know that that July has long passed, but that’s beside the point. The important thing is for me to continue showing up, even if my blog posts are late.
Mixed Feelings About Everything
After spending a month in Ontario and unintentionally taking a hiatus from blogging, I have been reflecting on the value that blogging brings to my life. It occurred to me that despite creating the illusion of friendship groups and circles online, the truth is that there isn’t really a deep connection within the blogging community. Earlier in August, I celebrated my birthday and it made me realize that unless I loudly announced it on a social media platform, nobody bothered to wish me a happy birthday. However, I don’t remember many birthdays myself, nor do I expect others to remember mine.
I have even contemplated whether there is any point in sending birthday cards or snail mail these days, even though I still love sending snail mail. What is making me feel unhappy is the lack of reciprocation and the amount of maintenance and upkeep. I find myself wondering if there is any point in doing anything these days. Perhaps, instead of writing for an audience, I should consider writing for myself. It seems that I have lost sight of the ultimate objective when it comes to blogging.
A Lack of Emotional Support
I recently became aware that both my immediate family and extended family read my blog. Sharing my opinions openly was once something I craved, but now I find myself doubting if using my real name was a wise decision. Regrettably, the negative reactions I have received in person have made me hesitant to address certain topics that I wanted to write about, such as future plans in my personal life. While I consider myself a fairly private person, there are certain aspects that I am currently grappling with and feel emotionally overwhelmed. Furthermore, it’s disheartening to feel restricted in expressing myself freely. Perhaps Alias accounts had it right all along, but it is too late for me to start over. It’s frustrating to have to filter what I say once again, knowing that certain eyes are reading my writing.
End of Rant 🔚
JULY RECAP 2023
Career Goals:
- Possibly bid on available shifts I only worked 1 shift in July. I cancelled the other shift d/t unresolved stomach pain.
- Catch up on work emails + check MLL courses I haven’t really looked at my work emails and need to catch up on them.
- Work on side hustle → have 60+ designs by end of July I currently have 50 designs available in my shop. I believe I only uploaded 3-4 designs throughout the month of July. I didn’t spend much time on my computer while I was in Ontario.
➤ Click here to visit my Redbubble shop
Personal Goals:
- Publish 1-2 blog posts + monthly recap I am behind on everything right now.
- Transfer appointments to my Posh Planner Did I find it? Yes, I did. Did I use it yet? No, I have not. I didn’t bring my Posh Planner to Ontario, so now that I’m back home, I don’t really have an excuse.
- Keep tabs on doctor’s appointments/pending appointments These days, I use my phone to keep track of everything. It’s just faster and more convenient.
- Daily Duolingo practice 🇩🇪 I stopped tracking Duolingo leagues end ended up dropping several ranks. The only thing I care about is maintaining my daily streak. Instead of overwhelming myself with marathons, I try to complete one new lesson per day.
- Finish photo album for my dad → due July 12 I completed the photo album and gave it to my dad. He loved it! I had some extra photos and framed them for my room.
Health Goals:
- Track steps on Pikmin Bloom app → advance to Level 45 🌸 Unfortunately, no progress has been made on Level 44 even after numerous tries. I’m still stuck there!
- Track water intake on Water Llama app I still have the app on my phone but I haven’t been using it.
- Leave the house once a day and get some sunshine☀️ Ontario was warm and sunny, making it easy to get enough sunshine in July. However, I often get sunburns, especially on my face, so I have to be careful.
(っ◔◡◔)っ ♥ FINAL THOUGHTS ♥
And there you have it! During the month of July, I unexpectedly ended up spending an entire month in Ontario. Consequently, I had little time to work on my hobbies, which include writing and designing stickers, among other things. Now that I am back in Calgary, my schedule is extremely busy, and I am prioritizing my children who require my undivided attention. I am also contemplating how much time and energy I want to throw at blogging. In the meantime, you might find me uploading new designs to #Redbubble.
BTW, I forgot to mention that I recently got promoted to the Premium tier on Redbubble! I’m extremely thrilled about it because it means I no longer have to pay any additional fees from my sales. I get to keep the full commission I earn, which really motivates me to keep pushing forward. Additionally, Redbubble is having this awesome sale where all merch is 30% off for the rest of August!
(っ◔◡◔)っ FYI: If you’re not already following me on Twitter (@serene_hilz), you can get real-time updates about my day-to-day life there.
Thanks for stopping by! ♥
You do not need to apologize for anything. This blog is yours and if you want to post every day or just whenever, that is your choice. The only problem is, I will miss what you care to share with us.
Blog for you. As for birthdays, I have a hard enough time remembering mine. Lol. But I have never been the one to share my b-day but I really like celebrating others b-days. So, if you don’t tell us it is your day, we wouldn’t know. I still send snail mail such as holiday cards, Xmas and Valentine’s seem to be the only ones except for birthdays. Also I send thank you cards if someone sends a gift or something. Of those people I keep in touch with, I do it by mail. Most of the time it is a photo card with one of my photos.
Maybe you are just in the summer doldrums?
Hi Buddy71! I don’t plan on giving up blogging any time soon. I am currently struggling to keep up with blogging/comments. A lot of comments get neglected but I am trying my best to acknowledge the comments. I appreciate it that you took the time to comment and it has not gone unnoticed.
It’s really nice that you still send snail mail. I wish more people would send snail mail. This past year, I didn’t really have the energy but other years I do send snail mail. This craft seems to have slipped away from us and I hope it doesn’t die. There is something very special about giving and receiving snail mail.
Buddy71 is right, this is your space on the internet, you need not apoligise for anything. Perhaps you could shut this blog down and open another blog with a different address? My family has no idea that I run my current blog since 2016, and other before it.
Shut this blog down? NOOOOOO 😱 This blog is my baby. I’ve been growing this blog for the last 7-ish years despite being mostly inactive on WordPress. A pen name makes sense, but I feel like it’s too late for me to switch over to one.
‘
I see, sorry about this, Hilary. My blog has been up since 2016 and is in some sense my baby too. Not many followers but that’s okay. It’s all for fun. 😊
Happy belated birthday!
Thank you, Rachel! 🙂
Belated happy birthday. Your designs are cute. Yes, I understand the need to be able to write freely, may start another account with a pen name.
I have struggling to blog on wp.com. I am ish active on here. But, a bit more active on Medium. Medium changed things on first August, and most people are happy with the changes, I certainly am. August on medium is looking to be a good month for most.
Ah, I thought I saw you over on Medium. Ignore my last comment on here as I am catching up on older blog posts/comments. I don’t blame you for wanting to spend more time on Medium if that platform is better for your needs. I just recently found out about the changes on Medium and it hasn’t had much of an impact for me. I do plan on writing more for Medium in 2024 b/c it seems like there’s more of a community over there. Is it just me or is the community a bit lacking on WordPress these days?
will be good to see you on Medium too
I sometimes wonder if I should have gone anonymous with my blog. People I know in real life sometimes read my blog, so I’m always aware of that when I blog. Congrats on getting promoted on Redbubble!
I’m glad that you can relate to this blog post, it makes me feel less alone. I find myself having to filter what I say even though I still feel like much of what I say is unfiltered. I would definitely be more controversial if nobody knew who I was. 😂
I get how you feel. When we know people are reading our blog, it changes the tone of our writing. There’s topics I really want to write about because there’s not enough people talking about it. But the backlash I got from my family (my dad, in-laws, even neighbor) really made me think twice about it. Feeling totally defeated about it not gonna lie.
Thank you so much! I felt like I should be bumped to Premium, so I asked a human moderator to look at my account. And they did. And they approved. It took a month but was still worth it in the end! 🙂
Congratulations on being promoted to the Premium tier on Redbubble! That’s amazing and I hope you have a lot more sales on there!
As for your blog and online connections, yeah it’s different when you connect online and in person. Online connections aren’t always that deep, unfortunately. It’s up to you how much time and energy you’re willing to put into blogging. And if you want to blog anonymously using the same profile you can change your domain and username and that way people you know will think you shut down your site. Remember to remove people you would rather not have on your blog from your following if they follow you.
Thank you so much, Pooja! 🙂 The people who creep my blog are mostly immediate and extended family. What freaked me out a bit was finding out a distant half cousin who I never met reads my blog. I never even met her and it was my husband who told me that. Also, my dad discouraged me from going forward with future plans so I am done sharing anything too personal or asking for advice from immediate family. I was practically in tears because it was a very sensitive topic that family (and extended family) don’t understand. I think some ex-friends also read my blog because sometimes the stats artificially skyrocket for an hour and I am left wondering who was snooping through my blog posts.
It took such a long time to get to where I am now (7 years) and to start over again scares me. I also don’t want to risk losing followers and an audience d/t changing a domain name. I don’t even know what I would change the domain name to since it is also linked to my Redbubble shop name. People associate me with running “that Sereneluna blog/shop.”
Right now only people who have WP accounts can leave comments on my blog posts. They must be registered with WP. Keeps spam at bay. 🙂
Sorry to hear about that, it must have been really difficult having family and extended family weigh in on personal issues they don’t fully understand. Yeah, it can be scary to change your domain etc and it’s not the best option if it’s connected to other stuff like Redbubble. I guess you’ll just have to be careful about what you post. And if that doesn’t help try blocking their account or IP address so they can no longer access your blog.
I felt like it was important to tell them but now I’m regretting ever telling them anything. I told my husband that for now on, I won’t be telling them anything about my plans.
I’m not really sure how this will translate into writing/blogging and what things I will share on here. They don’t have WP accounts and idk their IP addresses. They’ll still find a way to read my blog posts. Best not to engage with them about certain topics I guess….
Yeah, I guess the best thing is to not engage with them and don’t tell them any of your personal plans in the future. Sometimes it’s just for the best.
I might still blog about it, and if I do I will ignore them. My husband and I are going forward with our future plans whether our families are on board with it or not.
Yeah, at the end of the day you have to do what’s best for you guys.
Truth be told, you don’t need to apologize for writing late posts. Life outside the blog is far more important than here. Just like some of the earlier comments — your blog, your space, your rules. You don’t owe anyone anything.
You can always make your blog private. I did exactly that after 10 years (though for a different reason, as I’m sick and tired of spammers and WP tolerating them). From 800+ subscribers, the follower count dropped to roughly 60 — but I don’t regret it as I can now focus on quality.
Hi there! Thank you for reading commenting. I’m late getting around to replying… I’ve been late getting around to a lot of things lately.
I looked into the private option but I think I would lose followers that way, and engagement would plummet. Yikes – 800 to 60 is quite the drop. But hey, at least it’s 60 loyal readers who’ve got to your back 🙂
One thing I don’t like is having to get “approval” whenever I try to follow a private blog. I totally understand wanting to go private with blogging, especially if it keeps certain readers at bay.
Hey, no problem at all. Take your time.
For the approval part, I just think of it as akin to private accounts on IG — at least I have control of who’s in and who’s out. 🙂
That’s fair – very understandable!
Happy Happy belated solar return! ❤️❤️
Thank you so much! 🥰
I totally get what you mean about the feeling of there not being a deep connection in the blogging sphere!! It makes me feel a little bummed (same with Instagram) and for me, it’s because I hardly have real life connections, so I get hopeful on online platforms. You’re right though – writing for yourself is a good thing! And your baby Aaron is so cute, and so is your photogenic Pug (my condolences for its passing!) Congratulations on your Redbubble milestone!
Hi Samantha! 🙂 Omg I relate to this so much. I don’t have many real-life connections either. I’m a bit of a loner and have accepted it. People often think I have ppl in my life but it’s just my husband and 2 little children. Outside of that it’s me and this blog. I have like one real life friend back in my home province but she lives thousands of miles away. So I get it, I really do.
I’ve tried to connect with ppl online but I find a lot of relationships to be superficial. Not all of them are superficial but most of them are. I found myself putting in way too much effort trying to maintain relationships and the moment I stopped, that was the moment the relationship/friendship died. 🙇♀️
Thank you so much! My kiddos are Eurasian. And thank you – I miss my pug a lot. She was such a friendly dog and she lived with my parents.
Thanks so much for sharing that!!! We sound a lot alike! It truly is hard to find real connections; it’s me and my blog, too. I’m thankful I found your blog! 😁
Your reply made me smile! 🙂 I’m happy I found your blog too!! 😊