Blogging is my job, but do I talk about it in my real life? Do I tell people what I do? Or do I let them think that I spend my days at home, doing the housework etc. I’m definitely in the last camp! But why?
Blogging isn’t a widely known and respected career. It is seen as a hobby and I can kind of understand why people think this, because it started as a hobby for me and I had no idea when I started that you could make money from blogging. But you can and I do!
I remember when I started to get contacted by brands, asking if they could send me their product in return for a blog review. One of my first reviews was for SockOns, which I already loved and used for the girls and so I said yes. I literally jumped up and down with excitement. Which makes me laugh now, especially when I think about the amount of time I spent on doing a review for a pair of SockOns, but it was all a learning curve.
As the years went by, I had to learn very quickly about running a business for myself. There is A LOT that goes into running your own blog and business. There is only me and no IT, finance or legal departments that I can contact and rely on when I need help. I’ve had to learn it all myself. Its been a big learning curve, but on the whole I have enjoyed learning. Apart from the legal side of things, that blows my mind.
Blogging has become a hugh part of not only my life, but my families life too. We’re all invested in it, and Andy and the girls are all really supportive of it. We’re extremely lucky to have had some wonderful opportunities thanks for my blog and we’re always very grateful for these. I talk to the girls about my blog all the time, especially Alice who understands it a lot more now. She knows what Mummy does and that her photos are used on it and that everyone can see them. At the moment she loves it, and feels proud that we get to show other children things. I’m sure there will come a time when she won’t want to be involved and that’s ok. I would immediately stop featuring her and Holly, as soon as they make that decision.
So, if it’s such a big part of our life, why don’t I talk about it? I’m not a particularly confident person, I don’t like the limelight on me. Which I’m sure surprises people, as I imagine people expect bloggers who share their life on the internet and on social media to be the opposite. And I’m sure some bloggers are, all about look at me. But that’s not my personality at all. In fact if I think too much about the amount of people that read my blog, or see me on social media, it makes me want to close it all down and hide in a hole!!
When I started writing my blog, I didn’t think anyone would read it. I wrote it for me. I was on maternity leave with Holly and I missed having something for me, and I had a lot going on in my mind and it was a way for me to channel all my thoughts. I was later diagnosed with post natal depression, and blogging helped me through it.
If I know that people in my real life read my blog, it makes me cringe, and I know that people do. But I push that to the back of mind. It’s always odd when something makes a comment about something and I think I don’t remember talking about that to them, and then I think to myself ‘oh I mentioned it on Instagram’. But I just let it go over my head. People seem to discover my blog by themselves and I am SO grateful that people do support me. Every single time someone likes one of posts, it always means so much to me. But yes, I still cringe if they talk to me about it in person 🙂
Andy doesn’t understand why I don’t talk about it more. He is really proud of what I have achieved and I know that he talks a lot about it to his work colleagues and friends. Which is lovely, but I can’t bring myself to do it. When people ask me about it, I want to run away and I try and move the conversation on. Which is ridiculous really, because I’m sure they are only asking me about it because they are genuinely interested in it. I need to get braver.
One thing that I can tell you, is that I still absolutely love writing my blog. I love that it is all mine, and I can write what I choose to write. I love the feeling it gives me, when I finish a post. I love when a post resonates with someone and they reach out to tell me.
I’m sure that it won’t stay my job forever, but what I am sure of, is that I will always write my blog. I can’t see a time when I won’t blog…
