Rediscovering Old Interests

Where did these 6 years go? It just feels like a couple of months, at the most, have gone by without a single post or interaction with the blogging community.

As I look through my old posts I almost feel like I'm observing a different person. Did I actually pen those posts? It's quite fascinating to read them and reflect on my state of mind from six years ago  -  I had, at that time, some specific goals to create engaging content through my blog and it sounded like I was determined to follow through. But somehow that didn't quite happen...I guess life happened, priorities changed and the disappointing realization that, with the increasing digital overload, my content would make minimal or worse, no impact at all.

Tonight as I lounged around in a hotel room in College Station, I realize that I have missed out on an activity that was therapeutic, meditative, and one which gave me a creative outlet to explore my interests and share them with a wider audience.

It seems appropriate that on this Martin Luther King weekend I would rediscover my love for this avenue of expression. His inspiring words to do the best that you possibly can and follow your dreams, propels me to embark on this journey again. I hope you can join me and participate in these dialogues.

Happy Martin Luther King Day!

Building Strength through Support

As Alina Popescu celebrates the 4th year anniversary of her blog by hosting a Blogging and Relationships writing project, I celebrate my 10th post by writing about the people in blogland that have helped me reach this milestone.

I first started my photoblog back in September 2006. My first post was my last post as well. I gave up because I didn't have any confidence in myself to believe that I could write well, contribute, make a difference by voicing my thoughts.

Two years later, in October 2008, a friend sent me a link to the Lauren Luke site on youtube. I was astounded, not because of her ability to do make-up tutorials very well( which she does amazingly well, by the way), but because of her courage and perseverance in pursuing her dream. I have an entire post on this, so I won't go into the details. The long and short of this is, Lauren Luke inspired me to restart my blog.

This time I didn't want to take on this task single-handed. I looked for resources on the web - resources that provided writing tips, encouraging words, inspiring stories, confidence building and the occasional kick-in-the-butt that I needed to move forward. I call them my online support group. These are a few of the authors from whom I've acquired a wealth of knowledge.

Sara, at OnSimplicity, writes such insightful posts that make me reassess what I already knew. Her writing makes me rethink what I believe of myself and helps change my negative perceptions.

BZ Riger at the Art of Allowing Mindset inspires me with her spirited attitude towards success.

Melissa Donovan's writing tips, ideas, and suggestions, in her blog Writing Forward, encourages me to write even when the muse is not present.

I find information on social media, and tools to promote blogs, on John Welsh's blog, These Digital Times.

And, of course, I have to include Joanna Young, of Confident Writing whose blog was among the first ones that I subscribed. I draw tremendous inspiration from her posts.

Though I've not had much personal interaction with these blog authors, I've learned a lot about, not just, how to write better but also how to be more self-assured and not stay in my comfort zone, with respect to writing as well as life.

I realize that I'm still new to the blogosphere and there will be changes and improvements as I continue to write. There will be moments of bleakness when I see no comments on my posts. But I take strength in knowing that it will not always be so. This time around, I have a wonderful support system that makes this journey so much more enjoyable and fulfilling.

(photo credit: stock.xchng)