The Blogger Tag

Hello, lovelies!

This tag was given to me by the lovely Cait, whose post you can check out HERE. It's a little bit like a Q&A style tag, which I love, and I'm excited to finally have the chance to get this tag up.

So.

Onwards!

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How long have you been blogging and why did you start?

Besides being a cute picture, this is the custom-made blog header I created for my blog. Yay for graphic design!

I've been blogging since September 22, 2011 (which is INSANE to think about), so I've been in the blogosphere for around six-ish years. And although it hasn't grown and skyrocketed with views like some blogs have in only a year, I'm okay with that because this community is close-knit and every single one of my readers is lovely and sweet, and hate and bullying just doesn't happen here.

I started my blog originally because my best friend was experimenting with blogging and the Blogger platform, and I literally was just like, "Yo, I wanna do that too." And here we are!

  

 Is this current blog your first blog?

It is! Over the years I've had to run blogs for school and whatnot, and my best friend and I tried to have a more craft, recipe, and DIY-style blog for a little bit (which ended because we both had hectic schedules and it was so hard for us both to manage that blog and our personal ones).

What would you categorize your blog as?

Eek! That's a hard one. I guess the closest thing I could put a label on this blog would be that it's sort of a hybrid of beauty, lifestyle, and writing. Most of my posts are based around just things that have been going on in my life, but I like to throw in some tags and poetry here and there, along with some other bookish things.

Is it still the same kind of blog as when you started?

Actually, no! I originally started this blog as a very book-review centered one, and starting out almost every single post was dedicated to what I'd been reading at the time. There are a few similarities with me just blogging about weird things that have been going on in my personal life, but adding in the beauty posts and favorites is something that has evolved over my 6+ years of blogging, and it's something I really enjoy.

Top 3 things about being a blogger?

I love love love this question! (So much so that I felt only this Connor Franta picture was appropriate for it.)

1.) You have a place to put all your thoughts! (And look back on them later.)

Another reason I originally started my blog was because I wanted a place to write down all of my thoughts outside of something like a diary because I'd tried those before and they never lasted for me. I love being able to just write a poem and publish it, and I also think it's cool to see what I was doing a week or a month or a year ago. (On the downside, it means all my cringe-worthy posts from my beginning blogger days are still around to haunt me. *shudder shudder*)

I really like having a place where I can just grab an idea and run with it, especially if it's a topic that's just been weighing on my heart. I don't always want to publish a huge Facebook post and let all my "real life" friends and family see it, because sometimes I just need to get something off my chest rather then tell the whole world, you know? You all are my friends, and I feel a lot more free to talk here than I do on other mediums of social media. (:

2.) PEOPLE!!

As I've watched the YouTube communities become more and more savage in the comment section of people's videos, it's so nice to see that the blogger one remains so positive and lovely. This community is so much bigger than I ever thought, and I've met some of my dearest friends through this blog. Just reading advice posts and funny posts from different people is something I love to do on a rainy day, catching up on new things with a cup of coffee.

I don't always get a crazy amount comments on all of my posts, but even if I don't, there are surprise emails or Tweets or mentions on different social medias that are really sweet and nice to see. Knowing I have friends halfway across the world is really reassuring and it helps me get through some of the tougher times in life.

3.) Web Design (EEEEE!!!)

I am SUCH a website design geek. I am completely head-over-heels in love with designing and streamlining websites, and I love making things just look aesthetically pleasing. This has come in handy when having to design a blog or a site for a class, since I'm a mostly competent tech person and I know my way around the interwebs.

Having this blog has given me a chance to play around with color and design and just the overall feel of things, which is so much fun. If you've been around for a while, you've seen how excited I get when changing the background or the theme or just completely revamping the look of this blog. I love that feeling of having a fresh change to my blog, and playing around with color and side buttons is also something that I just get super pumped about (if you can't tell).

What is your favorite kind of post to write?

Basically I love posts where I can use an abundance of weird and wonderful gifs.

Okay, I'm kidding.

Mostly.

I love doing posts that focus either on beauty or fashion, or just what I've been loving lately, which are all encompassed in my Favorites posts. My other favorite thing is to write list-style posts, like THIS one, where I wrote about seven little ways to be happy. I've done other ones that are less serious too, like one I wrote about things that Disney heroines taught me. I just like to blog about little observations I've made, especially when they're about a certain theme, like that Disney one or the happiness one.

What is the hardest post you have ever written and published?

I have a few posts that definitely were hard to publish.

1.) Maybe She Never Did: A Poem

This was a poem I wrote a couple years ago, and the whole time I wrote it my heart was just aching and it hurt to come to the realizations that I did while writing it.

2.) Confession Session

This post was essentially me telling things about myself that weren't the things you'd hang on the fridge with a gold star, and also just little quirks, though the overall feel of the post was serious. It was hard to write, and I'm sure it was hard to read.

3.) My First Panic Attack

Even rereading this post just now, I remember how scared I was during my first panic attack. Anxiety is a constant, daily battle now, but it still hurts my heart a little bit to see my younger self be so fearful of something that isn't going to go away.

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And there we have it! Thanks again Cait for this tag; I loved how chill and fun it was to do. (:

That is all.

Cheers,