Sometime in 2009 I sat down at a computer, created a Blogspot account and began publishing posts to the web. At the time, the recent economic downturn and cuts to higher education fueled the fire for Jasmine on the Issues, and then a couple of years later, my interest in telling stories led me to create Jazzed About Stuff. When I received a message from WordPress reminding me that I registered on the site three years ago, I was shocked at another realization.
I have been talking to strangers online from all over the world for about five years now.
I have met so many people, heard stories from places that have never even heard of and learned so much more about myself than I would have if I had never started blogging. Posting blog posts on the internet became less of a hobby over the years and more of a way, albeit publicly, to reconnect with myself on deeper level. In between spam posts and unrelated links I also gained encouraging comments and wisdom from other bloggers who posted their bits of writing to the internet as well.
I landed my first writing position because of the original blog, and met and stayed in touch with other writers that way too. Blogging has opened so many doors (and has even closed some) as I used it to grow and shape who I am. I have been encouraged to venture out into the world and live life, and sort of own who I have become just by posting weekly to the web.
I may not have the most popular or the most interesting blog, but after five years of blogging I do have a regular group of readers that come back for one reason or another, and I also now have a living time capsule of my thoughts and opinions. I wouldn’t trade these past five years of blogging for the world as the act of blogging has now become a part of me. I only hope that I will keep this whole blogging thing up for the years to come.
Jazzed About Stuff 