Let's get real for a second, shall we?
I'm feeling kind of ho-hum, lately - about blogging.
Well, okay - I take that back. I'm sure it's just a phase, cuz I love blogs of all sorts and blogging here. I always have. :)
Possibly, it's because I've been crazy busy with work + school + homework, and it's been so sad to have less time to fit it in? (I don't want it to sound forced!) Possibly because I haven't crafted in a while. Possibly because I'm yearning for a blog make-over. Possibly because the winter rain is setting in, here, and it's dreary. Possibly these ho-hums are fueled by how commercial it's feeling to me, lately.
I have some fleeting moments to catch up on blog reading, and off I go, hoping for inspiration - but more often than not all I see is 'giveaway this', 'giveaway that', 'sponsor here', 'sponsor there' - and it's getting old. Impersonal. I find myself skipping those sponsor posts and rarely even entering giveaways - especially those dreaded ones that make you follow them via google connect, first. (Hello, I use Bloglovin! - he he).
I know, I know. This blogging thing has become a business, for some - and that's beyond awesome. And don't get me wrong - giveaways are also beyond awesome when done tastefully (in fact, I was elated to win a gift certificate from Ruche the other day, eek!). Sponsorship is awesome and so is supporting small businesses and helping them have a greater worldly reach, and I'm so happy that it exists: I just feel like everybody has the same features and the same giveaways and even the same clothes-providers, now. And I'm starting to feel like, in part because of these things, even I'm getting away from my original intentions with this little place, and it's therefore becoming something I'm feeling obligated to keep up with. Which is not cool, is my own fault, and was not the point of this here solace-from-the-everyday in the first place (and - to be clear - I wasn't feeling until just recently).
For the last few weeks I've been plagued with thoughts of, 'I need to blog today' - not because I have something super-awesome to share, but because I'd been paid to keep it up - I have to blog something today. Until my time got spread really thin, I hadn't felt that - and I really really don't want to have to do it.
I'm one of those if-you-tell-me-to-do-it, I-don't-want-to people.
I want to get back to posting because I have a piece of my heart to share (as I have been). I don't want to be accountable for having to post: because of my recent school/work schedule change, I've realized that if I'm up til 2am blogging because that's the only chance I have, you can bet I want it to be something that I'm crazy passionate about sharing. Ad-wrangling and putting up in itself is a many-hour job - a many hour job that I don't desire, passionately - lol.
That said, so I can focus my heart back on quality crafty & life content here - and get back to my humble blogging roots - I'm discontinuing sponsorship, here. I'm super-thankful to those who have invested in this little place in the last few months, from the bottom of my heart. :)
How do you feel about the blog world, lately?
What do you want to see more and less of out there?
I want to be inspired. I want to read posts that someone hasn't written & scheduled two weeks ago. I want to read something personal, not just what somebody's paid someone to wear/say/mention. I want to connect with the people behind the blogs I follow (as well as what they have to say) - I'm tired of leaving repeated thoughtful comments on what feel like oblivious brick walls, and I want to make more of a point to say hello to everyone who takes the time to leave words, here, too (as I currently do - I need to get better about leaving comments, myself!).
Sooo...here's to growth and fresh look at blogging! :)
I will still attempt to pop in here as much as I can - I'm hoping for every few days, and more frequently when I have breaks in school/work...
