Did we all start blogging again? Honestly, I wish I never left.

Everybody’s blogging again and I couldn’t be happier about it.  

Okay, as usual, there is only a small percentage of the internet population that cares about launching or revitalizing their blogs. And there’s certainly plenty of people who have never left. (Did you know that there are over 600 million active blogs?)

Either way, we haven’t reached 2024 yet and this era of blogging already feels different. There’s a familiarity from the good ‘ol days without the pressure of being picture-perfect. It’s hard to say if Instagram’s days are numbered, but it’s clear that it’s time to shift away from the platform more and more than ever. This also means that everyone is trying to get in where they fit in. 

And I think this is where I should’ve been long ago. I am four days into blogging again and it feels like hanging out with a crew of hometown friends.

As I shared earlier, I have commitment issues and I don't like to disappoint. That has impacted my ability to show up on certain platforms, especially when it features my writing. It was easy for me to make excuses for not having a plan for maintaining my blog or building a sustainable routine. Eventually, I would feel so behind that anxiety would take over before I could try to catch up. 

I wasn’t chasing an algorithm because I couldn’t bother to understand it. It was me getting in my own way (a recurring theme, and I’m sure I’m not alone in that).  Sometimes I needed to take space from the internet, other times I simply needed to write for the sake of writing.  

“How else will people know that I am a serious writer?” Seriously, that’s all that went through my head whenever I couldn’t muster the energy to write a blog post. Or I killed a draft before I had a chance to explore what I wanted to say. Part of that was being afraid of my own voice, I suppose. 

Sometimes I did fake it until I made it. Or maybe I accepted the reality that I was part of making a difference. Either way, I wrote a guest blog post in February 2018 for A Stronger Version of Her:

I turned to writing and performing stories after I realized how much of my time was spent focusing on advocating for social change and not processing my own reality or humanity outside of marginalization and oppression. All the rage and despair I felt had to go somewhere. It didn’t take long for me to discover I was not alone. I still work in offices rooted in social justice and advocacy—and I am proud of the work we produce—but it has become more about a paycheck since I’ve accepted that my passion does not have to be tied to my career.

 The older I get, the more I surprise myself. I am returning to a dream I thought wasn’t feasible. Turns out I only needed to reframe why I needed to create art. Writing and curating space for people to share their art is still tied to social justice; I am not as far removed from it as I felt I had to be.

Dang, I said that? Look at me in awe of 25-year-old K who was starting to trust in their voice and vision. And I am here again because I wanted somewhere to put my rage and despair. This is Take #34234 with blogging. This time around, I’m reminded that I can still have fun while moving with intention. Isn’t it great how far we’ve come?