Nine Years of Blogging: A Journey Through Words

This month marks nine years since I started my blog. I can’t remember the exact date I hit publish on my first post, but I know it was February 2016, so somewhere this month, my little corner of the internet officially turns nine. It feels crazy to even say that.
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When I first started blogging, it was mostly as a creative outlet. I’ve never been someone who could draw or paint, and I don’t really have any hands-on hobbies, so writing became a way for me to channel some creativity from home. Setting up a website was completely new to me and, honestly, a pretty steep learning curve. It took me a while to figure it all out, from the technical side of things to just getting comfortable with the idea of sharing my thoughts online.

Once I was set up, I remember staring at the blank screen, not really knowing what to write about. That’s when my journal-style posts started to take off. I began writing about my day-to-day life—what I was up to, days out, meals I’d had—and, surprisingly, people seemed to enjoy reading that kind of content. Alongside my weekly journals, I mixed in lifestyle posts, product reviews, and little bits and pieces of whatever I felt like sharing at the time. Back then, my posts were a lot less frequent. If I remember correctly, I’d write maybe one or two blogs a week.

Writing didn’t come naturally at first. I had to get over the initial fear of putting my life out there for strangers to read, but that disappeared fairly quickly. What took longer was getting past my tendency to overanalyse every sentence. I’d pick apart my words, second-guessing everything I wrote, and sometimes I’d end up rambling just to fill the space. A journal entry that’d be around 400 words could easily take me three to four hours to finish. Thankfully, I’ve gotten faster over the years. Like anything, practice makes perfect.

My blog has naturally evolved over time. Product reviews and working with brands have taken a back seat, and now my posts lean more towards health and fitness. But my journal entries have remained and will always be a big part of my blog. The reason I started blogging hasn’t changed either—it’s still an outlet for me, a way of getting things off my chest. In a lot of ways, it’s like a form of counselling, which is probably why I’m such an advocate for journalling. I’ve always said that even if you don’t want to start a blog, just buy a notepad and write for yourself. Journalling really is great therapy.

There have definitely been quieter times on the blog since 2016. Life gets busy, and sometimes I just haven’t had the time or headspace to write. In 2022, I took nearly a full year off, but when I returned, the blog picked up right where it left off, with the same faithful readers and some new ones, too. Lately, I’ve felt like I’ve been a bit quieter, but looking back, I’m still posting almost daily, with five to six blogs a week. I think it’s just in my head that I’m writing less—maybe because blogs don’t take me three or four hours to write anymore, thankfully.

Anyway, I just wanted to share that my blog’s celebrating an anniversary this month. Here’s to nine years of blogging and hopefully many more to come.