Some days, writing is like pulling teeth for me. With every sentence I begin to form, I can hear the words in the back of my head saying "Give Up". It would be so much easier -- closing the computer, grabbing a cookie from the kitchen and crashing on the couch to watch another episode of The Office. It would be nice in the beginning, relaxing instead of working intensely to put on paper what my heart is trying to say, but in the end I know I'd just be left exactly where I was an hour earlier -- but with a stomach fuller and another to-do item left unchecked.
Blogging is such an interesting thing. Truly, it is. It is far from what I thought it would be when I started over a year ago. It has opened many new doors into my life, some great and some a bit more tricky. I've met wonderful friends, learned great new tips for projects, learned some valuable lessons in business and saw new perspective in so many different topics of life. And for the amount of positive that has come from entering the blogging community, it makes it more than worth it.
But, like most things in life, there is always another side to the card. Really though, what is a lesson if you never face a trial? That would be a dull and uneventful journey. Hard work and endurance would not be necessary, creativity would be something different entirely. Like clockwork, I have almost come to expect that "
next level lull". Think about it, when you start something new, it's exciting. It's fun. The newness is intoxicating. Then... you begin to grow. You stretch out your raw talent and prepare to tap into the creative bits of you that are not as easy to access. And these parts of you are best sustained with dedication, endurance, a pinch of structure and some hardcore discipline. The fun can still be there, but it has changed it's looks.
Soon enough, you are in a routine. The once hard stretch to reach that new level of creativity is no longer work, it feels natural. Until...
it doesn't anymore. It begins to feel too stale to be normal and your exploration-hungry self wants to again reach for something deeper, something more valuable, something....much...much harder to attain. And so the cycle repeats itself.
In more areas than one, I face this. Many of us do - in jobs, in growing family, in relationships. We want to go deeper, get better, be more real. We want to grow.
In blogging, I look back at the 14 + months that I have been writing post after post after post and I think of all the little achievements I have felt. My first comment. My first giveaway. My first paid sponsor. My first ad. 25 followers, 50, 100 ...400. It is a sweet reward to the hard work I had to put in to obtain each goal.
But, even with every level-goal reached, I begin to again feel the ache to expand, to fling open that new window to let in some fresh air, some new inspiration. But this time, my next-dream's enemy has come to battle it off and his name is LIE. In fact, there's a few of em! The kind that tell me I suck because... A few followers are lost, a low stats day, no comments, not as adorable as the "Miss Highly Successful Blogger" bookmarked on my browser, awful lighting for the photos of a DIY project.....no inspiration to write.
It's there at the cross roads I can put my foot to the road and push forward. Or, I can sit down and let myself be overtaken with discouragement. The choice is always mine.
The choice is always yours. Growing pains. That's all it is. And just like you eventually grew into your feet as a kid and your legs stopped aching, so this season will too.
For all you bloggers out there, struggling in the comparison game, facing obstacles of any kind, feeling insecure, unable to voice your heart clearly, unable to grow the business side, wanting to excel your creativity -- You are not alone. Don't give up. "
Far and away the best prize that life has to offer is the chance to work hard at work worth doing. "
-Theodore Roosevelt
Your passion, your dream, your creativity is WORTH fighting for. So, do it! ♥, mK
