Showing posts with label blogging. Show all posts

DECIDING WHY I WRITE AND WHETHER TO CONTINUE

Keeping up with the times and choosing what to share on my blog - it's always a learning process.

TO WRITE OR NOT TO WRITE?

Over the last few months I've been questioning whether to keep blogging or to close things up and move on to something else. I tend to have my words dry up for a while and I wonder if I've said it all. On top of that I've had some wins and losses, and I just didn't know whether I wanted to continue.
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TEN YEARS OF BLOGGING - LOOKING BACK AT A DECADE OF SHARING MY JOURNEY

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TEN YEARS AGO....

Back in November 2014 I was at a bit of an impasse. I was in my early 50's and felt a bit lost and unsure of what middle age had to offer. It all just seemed a bit grey and dull, with very little to recommend it. Work was tedious, my life was a little blah, the kids had left home and were happily settled and independent..... Who was I now? What was there to look forward to? How do I process it all?

I had this idea that I needed to write it all down somewhere to work it through, and hopefully I'd figure things out. But where do I do that? Completely out of left field, I decided to start a blog. I didn't know anyone who blogged, I didn't really even know what blogging was, but I googled it (as you do) and I was off on a new adventure.....
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3 FABULOUS THINGS TO CELEBRATE IN NOVEMBER

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LET'S CELEBRATE!

My Word Of The Year for 2022 was "Fabulous" and I just about wore it out... but, I think there's one more Fabulous post to write, and so I'm borrowing it for today. November this year has brought 3 Fabulous things to celebrate and I'm sharing them today - there's a birthday, a milestone, and an anniversary - so here we go.....

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8 LESSONS FROM 8 YEARS OF BLOGGING

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THIS TIME 8 YEARS AGO

Around this time 8 years ago, I finally took the plunge and started a blog. I dived into the vast unknown with little to no expectations (other than to write a bit of stuff down to get it out of my head and into a more understandable format).

I knew nothing about blogging or bloggers. I hadn't even heard the term "Midlife" - it was something I encountered along the way when a few amazing women found me and took me on a journey that has now been part of my life since November 2014. I've learned so much along the way and today I thought I'd share 8 lessons I discovered in the process....
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ARE BLOG YEARS SIMILAR TO DOG YEARS?

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IT'S BEEN ALMOST 7 BLOGGING YEARS

In a few weeks it will be SEVEN years since I started this blog! Sometimes it feels like I started yesterday, other times it feels like I've been writing posts forever. I looked at my stats the other day and I've written 952 posts! That's a lot of my life that's been shared here - the good, the bad, the boring, and probably the ugly too. 

But it got me thinking about how seven blogging years feels so different to seven human years and that maybe they need to be measured on a different scale - much like dog years....
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BEING PRESENT AND RECONNECTING WITH THE REAL WORLD

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WHAT'S BEEN MISSING IN MY LIFE LATELY?

Over the last six months of so, I've been feeling a little out of sorts. I thought it might be due to the imminent approach of my 60th birthday later this year (I always have issues with changing decades). But then I realized it wasn't anything to do with that, it was the realization that my online life had taken over my in-real-life. Covid played a large part in tipping the scales in that direction - it's been so easy to stay home and to chat online, to write blog posts, to update my blog's Facebook page etc etc. But in the process, I can now see that my real world has shrunk and withered away due to neglect over the last couple of years.

Have I actually become a stay at home recluse? Or do I just need to make a few adjustments?
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TURNING THE VOLUME DOWN A LITTLE (FOR NOW)

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TIME FOR A CHANGE

When I began this blog (back in September 2014) I was a complete blogging novice. I never expected people to find me online and I was hugely concerned that I might be trolled or have negative comments. So.....I turned the comments off for the first six months of blogging.

Over that time I connected with some lovely Midlife bloggers and they told me they wanted to leave a comment and couldn't. So.....I turned them on, and they've been on ever since.

But......
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3 REASONS WHY I'LL NEVER BE A BLOGGING QUEEN

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BEING THE NEXT BEST THING IN BLOGGING

Every new blogger thinks they're going to be the next big thing that sets the blogging world on fire. We all leap in and start hammering away on our keyboards, sharing our thoughts, our ideas, our hearts, and our souls. But as time goes on I've seen so many bloggers come and go - the ones who burn out the quickest are the ones who came with the biggest aspirations. There are 7 MILLION blog posts published EVERY day, so I'm wondering if starting small and being content with being a small fish in a very big pond can sometimes be a better game plan than trying to set the world on fire and failing to live up to your own expectations?
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HOW TO START YOUR OWN BUSINESS ONLINE

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INTRO

Today on the blog I have a collaborative guest post with an interesting discussion and general overview of what it takes to start your own online business. It seems like everyone has an idea or two about what they'd like to do to earn an income from home, but sometimes it takes a little bit of a push to take it to the next stage.

Today might just provide another paving stone in the path to doing something you love - whether it's starting a blog, starting a business, or just dipping your toes in the water.
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CRESTING THE HILL AND ENJOYING THE VIEW

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CLIMBING THE HILL

A few weeks ago, some blogging friends and I were discussing hiking and how you approach those difficult hill climbs. My friend Jo from And Anyways commented that the secret is to tackle the climb with a positive attitude because you know it's going to be hard, but it will be even harder if you're complaining and miserable every step of the way. Her example was pushing through a challenging section by singing "Paradise By The Dashboard Light" (a great Meatloaf flashback there for those of  us who loved "Bat Out Of Hell" in the 70's - and that darn song was stuck in my head for weeks after she mentioned it!) with a fellow hiker and being able to laugh about it later when they'd conquered that section.

Her story reminded me of a quote that I often think about when I look at our journey through life:

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HAS COVID-19 KILLED MY BLOGGING MOJO?

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I'M JUST NOT FEELING IT

I'm not sure what's been happening lately, but I'm just not feeling the blogging love at the moment. I think it's a combination of things that are stealing my blogging joy, but sitting at home looking at my four walls is definitely the instigator of the problem. How do I find inspiration when I'm home all day? How do I think of anything original or interesting when I'm living Ground Hog Day over and over again? I feel like my mind is going a bit soggy from lack of stimulation and that translates into not having much to write about recently.
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WHY I STARTED BLOGGING AND WHY I CONTINUE

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WHAT MOTIVATED YOU TO BLOG?

I shared a lovely guest post from Erica (from Behind the Scenery) in February and she mentioned that a trip to Iceland was the trigger point for her to begin writing, and then to launch into blogging. In the comments section several people said it was an interesting reason to start blogging; and it made me wonder what motivated others to begin their blogging journey - especially if they started in their 50's or later. 

 Then I also wondered if the intitial reason to "push the publish button" was what kept them blogging week after week, year after year.... or whether things gradually changed and their motivation for writing became driven by something else.
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5 YEARS FROM THE DAY I FIRST PRESSED "PUBLISH"

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5 YEARS - WHERE HAS THE TIME GONE?

Exactly 5 years ago, on November 30th, 2014 I published my very first blog post. I had absolutely NO idea what I was doing, I wasn't one of those clever blogging souls who'd researched everything, done courses, joined Facebook groups, and who knew exactly what they wanted their blogging journey to be all about. NOOOOO - I just closed my eyes and jumped (well - closed my eyes and hit the Publish button) and the rest is now history.
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MY FAVOURITE AUSSIE MIDLIFE BLOGGERS

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AUSTRALIAN MIDLIFE BLOGGERS

A few years ago I wrote a post on 5 Aussie Midlife Bloggers and I noticed that things have changed a bit since then and it was time for an update. There are some fantastic women in their 50's and 60's (and even 70's!) who are writing blogs that inspire us all to live Midlife to the full and remind us that the second half of life can definitely be the best half of life.

 Today I've compiled a list of my favourites, and you can click on their blog title to connect to their blogs if you'd like to read more:
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3 REASONS WHY BLOGGING IS LIKE BUYING SHARES

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BLOGGING AND INVESTING

A few years ago a friend suggested that we start investing in shares because bank interest was so appallingly low and share dividends were much more lucrative. I'm a huge advocate of playing safe and shares always seemed a bit risky, but our friend recommended that we buy "safe" shares in banks because they won't blow up in our face like the more speculative areas are prone to do. It seemed like sensible advice and we've since used some of our savings to buy some "safe" bank shares.
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IT'S BEEN FOUR YEARS AND TIME FOR A CHANGE

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WHERE HAS THE TIME GONE?

I started this blog in November 2014 - four years ago! It seems like only yesterday I had the whim to write my thoughts down somewhere. I had no idea where to start, didn't bother doing all the research and soul searching that others did before they began blogging. I just picked the cheapest, simplest blogging format out there and jumped right in.
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"ONE WRITES NOT TO BE READ, BUT TO BREATHE"

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WHY DO WE WRITE?

Last week I mentioned that I was feeling inspired by the writings of Anne Morrow Lindbergh and what she had to say on several different areas of life. The first was her views on Midlife and today I wanted to look at some of the thoughts she has on writing - which transfers across beautifully to why many of us blog.
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WHY START A BLOG WHEN YOU'RE OVER 50?

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INTRO

When you live in a smallish town in the southwest of Western Australia you don't expect to bump into anyone who reads or, more amazing still, writes a blog. So, I was surprised and delighted to find that Johanna Castro (who writes a fabulous Midlife blog called Lifestyle Fifty) lives almost in my backyard. She is a gorgeous person both inside and out and I'm delighted to have her as my guest today. Jo has chosen a topic that resonated with me and I'm sure will interest bloggers and non-bloggers alike - here's why you should start a blog when you're over 50...
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5 WAYS TO MAKE YOUR BLOG EASY TO FIND

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WRITE IT AND THEY WILL COME

I think all new bloggers think that if they write something fabulous and post it, people will find their blog and their views will skyrocket and they'll be the next big thing, (we all start out with hopes of being wildly famous). Unfortunately, 99.99% of us are sadly disappointed when we check and find that 3 people have read our first post.
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WOW! I'VE REACHED HALF A MILLION VIEWS!

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500,000 VIEWS - WHO'D HAVE THOUGHT?

18 months ago I wrote a post celebrating the fact that I had reached 250,000 views. It seemed like an impossible number to me at the time. For someone who thought they'd be lucky if they had 50 views, I was staggered to see that I'd reached quarter of a million! I know that some bloggers get this number of views every month (that blows me away) but I was stunned to have reached that number in total - and I must admit to a little Macarena dance to honour the occasion!

 Fast forward to now and I've just hit the half million mark! That is beyond amazing to me because.... "who'd have thought?!" I'm a Midlife woman writing about whatever catches my fancy and people (not just my mother!) have come to read my stuff LOTS of times. I'm not sure who all those people are, but I am gobsmacked and chuffed and delighted all rolled into one little happy parcel.
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