A prompt I have saved is “Tell us why you started blogging and origin behind your blog’s name”. I really like that idea. My “About” page is actually quite informative compared to many I’ve seen. Maybe too much so? But I’m not trying to emulate anyone else’s blog. I’m not trying to follow the latest and greatest blogging craze. I just want to have a place to call my own and share with those who may be interested in some of the same things I am. So I do it my way.
It seems like so many blogs out there are just trying to make money from it. I honestly don’t have a problem with that. If your blog is so popular why not give it a go and earn a few (or more) bucks from doing something you enjoy. I wouldn’t want to take that away from anyone. But that’s not me, at least not right now.
So why exactly did I start blogging? Unfortunately it’s not a straightforward answer and spans many years. I’m an introvert. I have a hard time meeting new people and going to new and unknown places by myself. It causes me not just a little anxiety but quite a bit. I wanted to be brave and meet new people. The internet gave me the perfect outlet.
I started out slowly by joining a few cooking groups on MSN, back when MSN hosted their own forums. I enjoyed cooking, baking and sharing recipes and these groups seemed a perfect fit. I was so shy that I lurked around the groups for months. I was so worried about what others might think or say that I didn’t contribute even though I wanted to. Anxiety sucks. But I finally started contributing in one particular group when I saw most people were pretty warm and friendly and became friends with several. I even became an assistant moderator and was so proud that I had broken out of my shell enough to be trusted like that. But whenever you get so many people with such diverse backgrounds together you’ll eventually see heads starting to bonk together and then drama ensues. Some people don’t know the meaning of compromise or can’t take suggestions in the vein it is given. It’s as if you were personally attacking them. So I had to recuse myself for awhile because I simply couldn’t take the drama. I HATE drama! I simply stayed in the background and enjoyed the posts I could and skipped over those that I knew were trouble.
Many changes had happened to the cooking group over the years and at some point I decided to strike out on my own and create my own group. I was more than cooking, baking and sharing recipes and wanted to share those other things as well. This is about the same time blogging was really starting to catch on but I just didn’t think I could do that. I’m not exactly sure why the thought of a blog caused me so much anxiety so I stuck with the forum format. After a while I saw the same thing happen to my group as I did the other cooking group. There were fewer members and almost no one but a few ever posted anything. You might have 100 views that day but maybe one post or one like. It really got old for me to keep trying to come up with interesting content just to have no one respond. I felt like I was talking to myself and doing everything I could to please everyone else instead of me, so I ended up closing the group.
BUT, I missed the sharing and, okay, the showing off of my projects so I decided to start my blog. I had already felt I was talking to myself with the groups so why not do just that.
So that is the origin of my blog name. My intent was to simply share anything and everything that might interest me. A little of this and a little of that. I have so many different things I enjoy and I wanted to share it all in one place.
What do I expect from blogging? Truthfully…nothing. Don’t get me wrong I do keep an eye on my stats and get a little thrill whenever I see that a particular post is seeing more action than some of the others. I love seeing each month gaining more views and visitors than the months before. But I haven’t gotten to the point where I’m posting only what others expect to see and what will get me the most traffic. Once I get to that point I’m afraid all my enjoyment in sharing will be lost. It’s the same silly reason I don’t pursue cake decorating and baking more professionally. I’m afraid it’ll suck all of my enjoyment out of the activity, make it more like a chore and I end up resenting doing it. Just like I did with the groups.
All I’m hoping for is to find new and interesting people to follow. Maybe learn a few new things and appreciate the information they share. And maybe along the way meet a few new friends.
Believe it or not I’m now the owner of that original cooking group I joined. Many years have passed and many changes have occurred and somehow or other I found I was one of the few left and the only one who had permissions to moderate the group. No one had ever revoked my privileges so I tried to resurrect the group from the ashes. But I’m finding the same things now that I did years ago…a few visitors but no one wants to share. I’m on the verge of closing it permanently because I’m, once again, starting to resent having to drop in every day and post something.
A Little of This and a Little of That 