It’s been one year since I posted my first entry on this
blog. No matter how good or how bad of a blogger I’ve been, it’s not something
I could’ve ever imagined myself doing at this time last year. The way I
describe it to people, this blog has become my “journaling that I don’t mind
sharing with the world”. I could never see myself becoming a professional
blogger but to have this as an outlet has definitely been healthy for me. One
of the biggest inspirations for starting this blog has been my friend Maira
(who I’ve mentioned at least once) and I'd like to share a little more about her.
To tell you a little bit about Maira, she is a lot different
from me personality-wise. For example, if there were a picnic table right next
to a lake, I would be more inclined to climb on the table and yell at the top
of my lungs while Maira would be more likely to stay where she’s at and take in
the moment. She is very introspective and always committed to growth. I always
feel like I learn something new from our conversations and she is one of the
wisest friends I know.
More specific to this post, Maira is one of the biggest
inspirations as to why I started a blog in the first place. She has
her own blog which I started reading a while back and I always gain something
out of her posts. I get really excited every time Maira writes a new post. She
has a well-written blog and shares herself in such an authentic way. It is
never easy to share oneself in such an open setting, but for Maira to challenge
herself and set herself as an example in that way speaks volumes about her. And
of course, I’m proud of her for continuing to maintain her blog and post
every-so-often.
There’s one post of Maira’s that always keeps me going
whenever I’m writing about something and I get stuck. It’s about ego and the concept
of writer’s block. Essentially what she writes (which I find to be true) is
that our ego keeps us from sharing ourselves because whatever is not “good
enough”. I’ve found my ego to be the biggest challenge to blogging. Many times,
I think to myself that what I would write isn’t “good enough” or that anyone
who chooses to take time to read my writing will find fault with what I write.
I can feel awkward sometimes linking my blog posts to Facebook as if I’m trying
to shill for readers. I often can think I’m not that interesting of a writer
(and for all intents and purposes I may not be). But it takes me away from the
biggest reason I started this blog. I share myself in this way in the hope that
at least one person is better off for having read my writing. And if it’s only
that one person that is better off, then I’ve achieved my major goal. It’s
always healthy for me to have a reminder of the true goal of this blog.
After a year, I’m amazed I’m still at this and I’m glad I’ve
stuck with it. I choose to blog rather spontaneously. When there’s something on
my mind that I feel like I absolutely want to write about, I’m almost going to
force myself to make the time to write it all down in a blog post. This blog
has served both as a way to share myself and a much-needed form of self-therapy
at times. It’s certainly something I plan on keeping for the time being.
Without Maira and the encouragement of many different people,
my blog would’ve died and fizzled off a long time ago. And reflecting on it,
Maira is one of the biggest reasons why I started blogging and still blog. That
being said, it is only fitting that I dedicate this post to her, the one who I affectionately
refer to as “the blogmother” from time to time.
And here's the link to Maira's blog post I referred to earlier in this post: http://mtgutierrezblog.blogspot.com/2013/10/lego-and-write.html
