Wow! I’ve officially been a ‘blogger’ for a year now. The usual thing to say after that is ‘it’s just like yesterday when I started’ but to be very honest, it feels like eons ago since I published my first blog post. Also, the actual bloggiversary day was weeks ago but I somehow didn’t get around to publishing the post on time. No excuses really.
The major part of this blog anniversary post was written in March 2019, a little under two months after I started. I was in a Lagos-bound bus in a park in Ikare-Akoko, Ondo State. I was already getting overwhelmed with the processes involved with blogging and the thought of abandoning it crossed my mind.
I downloaded the WordPress app on my phone and decided to make drafts of future posts – a one year anniversary post being one of them. I had almost forgotten about it, but I’m glad I didn’t as it encapsulates everything I feel about my blog and the blogging experience so far. I only did a bit of editing to the draft to correct some mistakes.
Enjoy!
I remember how I’ve always wanted to start a blog, right from my third year in medical school (or thereabouts). Around that period I found CassieDave‘s blog and I really wished I could just start. But I felt like I wouldn’t be able to write anything interesting, or maybe there are too many blogs already. I somehow just kept and having it as a dream I wished could come true.
Fast forward to about 2 years ago, I still had the longing to blog, and then I discovered Medium.com and started posting inconsistently there. I liked medium then, and I still do. But I somehow didn’t feel free. Medium felt very professional and serious and meant for business and stuff, this might not be true but it is how I feel about the site. I reconsidered blogging but I came across someone’s blog post where she complained about people not reading blogs anymore and how she felt discouraged from blogging. I was like that sums it up, I’ll just stick with medium.
In keeping with my goal of writing more in 2019, I started out with this post on medium, but I somehow still felt out of place. Around that period, I decided to take some time offline to reduce the noise in my space. During my time off, I read articles and just basically lived. I started documenting my offline experience, just to have it somewhere and also to encourage others to try it out. As I thought about posting it on medium, it just didn’t feel right. And I thought why not just start this blog you’ve always wanted. It felt a bit scary and I wasn’t so sure how it will be received. I found this writeup by Ijeoma Kola which further encouraged me.
I decided to take the plunge and open a wordpress account anyway. I honestly had no idea what I was doing and I even mistakenly posted something at first which Desire Uba liked and I deleted it immediately. After lots of googling and trial and error, I finally figured it out and published my first official post here.
Over the past one year, it’s been more fun than I imagined. Blogging isn’t as easy as it looks from the outside. A lot of things go into it, but it was stress that I chose and I liked. In the subtle art of not giving a fuck, Mark Manson wrote that there’s no choice in life which offers zero problems, you just find the problem you love and stick with it.
At this moment, this is one of my favorite problems and I plan to stick with it for as long as possible.
There's no choice in life which offers zero problems, you just find the problem you love and stick with it. - Mark Manson Share on X
I actually thought I’d do something more elaborate with this blog anniversary post/period and lowkey that’s one of the reasons why I stalled but I guess this works too.
I hope to do more with this space in the months to come and I’d love for you to hang with me all through.
Love,
Sisikunmi
