There is a reason they call it the 7-year itch. It is just about long enough for a person to want to start exploring new things, but yet not long enough to decide if it’s time to up sticks and move on.
My Women Stuff turns 7 in 2 days and believe you me, that itch set in well and good some time last year. So I have this draft post where I say good bye and thank you for all the fish, but I haven’t yet hit publish on it. The simple reason is that I couldn’t bring myself to. It was like cutting off an appendage and I realised I’d really miss my arm.
So I talked to a couple of friends away from the blogging scene and they helped me put things in perspective. Incidentally, I received an email recently, asking me how I kept up my passion for blogging and it made me stop and think.
And you know what? I don’t know how I’ve kept it up for 7 years! 😀
In an effort to understand how I’ve lasted this long and why I still keep at it, I thought about how I’ve kept at this for the past 7 years, and I believe it’s a combination of a few different factors, that I’m sure those of you who blog will recognise:-
- Interest in the fast moving world of makeup trends – 4 seasons in a year mean 4 seasons of makeup to look at, not to mention the different smaller innovations, releases and re-releases of various beauty items. My interests come and go depending on the different trends I see emerge and some attract me, and others don’t. But it’s always interesting to see what’s new out there even if it all feels a bit same-same after a while.
- Interest in skincare – I’ve developed a greater interest in skincare and it means I’m now a lot more discerning in what I dabble with, but it also means I’m more open to trying new routines and products and documenting them, because I’ve realised just how helpful they are to others who may experience the same or similar skin issues, or who have a similar skin type and want to have an idea of the efficacy of a particular product. If I find it useful, I’m sure I could help someone too.
- Honing my writing skills – I write a lot and I write long rambly posts but I’ve worked out it’s just how my brain is wired. Summary isn’t my strong suit and I’m more of the essay type so I’m not about to change myself. And writing (for fun) allows me to practice turns of phrases and figures of speech I might never have the chance to use otherwise 🙂
- Reassessing priorities – I love what I do here on MWS but I have also realised that I don’t want to do this full time. Talking to friends helped me understand that I could keep a work-life-blog balance, but it also meant that I’d have to reassess my priorities. Could I give up a day of blogging and photography to live life, if I had to? Could I take a day off if I wanted? Can I break out of the rigid schedule I’d put myself into? My answer was yes I could, and I have. I’ve started to let go, and take days off randomly and I’ve taken back my weekends for myself. I have a huge project coming up that’ll take up a lot of my time and I want to make that a success so that is my priority for now 🙂 Reassessing my priorities and managing expectations has made me enjoy blogging again because I now do it for myself, knowing I can stop whenever I want.
- Do what you love – Enough about pleasing others, please yourself. If you love what you do how you do it, then just go on doing it. If it pleases you to mix in lifestyle snippets into your blog, do it. If you want to talk about food, do it. Who’s to say it’s not right? Doing what I love, sharing what I want, even if it isn’t always about beauty keeps things interesting for me and that keeps me going. Restrict myself and I get bored quickly and turns a fun activity into a chore done to please someone else instead of myself.
- Learning to say no – Knowing my limits and being aware of my personal interest levels in things have helped me say no. People are rude, I say no. Something doesn’t interest me, I say no. I’ve said no so much, that saying Yes is now the exception rather than the norm but I wouldn’t have it any other way.
The most important reason however, for me to keep at this is all the readers and friends I’ve made. Could I have kept on at this without the support of the readers i.e. YOU! ? No, I’d have given up because it’s no fun talking to yourself or shouting into the wind 😀
So as MWS turns 7, I take this opportunity to thank every single one of you reading this for spending those few precious minutes each day with me to read my ramblings, to contribute to the comments and ask questions and help answer others. I don’t think your boss appreciates it, but believe you me, you have my everlasting gratitude!
If I didn’t have your support, we wouldn’t be here celebrating 7 years on this home of mine on the internet. I’d like to think of blog years like dog’s years so yes, it does sort of feel like I’ve been doing this for 49 years! LOL 😀
Thank you, you and of course, YOU for giving me the passion to keep going 🙂
xoxo
Paris B
Juan says
congrats paris… we know its not easy but we still need you! haha… and i’m sure the brands also need you badly because you can really move contents of other people’s wallets without even touching them. sometimes i get so scared to read your posts because i know i’d head over to the counters, try them out and then bam! -.-
best thing is this is where i got to know you and how our friendship started. i’m extremely lucky.
keep it up… perhaps for another 3 years to make it 10?? 🙂
Paris B says
Thank you Juan and I’m so happy that we met each other through blogging! I’d like to think I help save money too although sometimes, I think that really pisses the brands off but too bad for them eh? Make better products next time! hehe… Ok, here’s to hoping I get to hit the big 10 – maybe throw a big party eh? 😛
Ting says
Quick! Delete that good bye draft post, Paris! We love your blog even if you don’t post regularly. Each post is well structured and clearly you have put a lot of thoughts into each. I followed so many blogs but mainly I scroll quickly to look at pictures. But yours… I really read. 🙂 Thank you for your effort in educating us. hehe 🙂 xxx
Paris B says
Aww thank you Ting 😀 Thank you for reading coz I love to write! I’m glad we’ve met and got to “know” each other through the blog. It never ceases to amaze me how much broader my horizons have become <3
Christina says
Congratulations on the birthday! I reside in North America, but I love visiting your blog frequently to learn about what’s being released overseas that we can’t get here. Oh, how often I’ve longed for something I’ve seen on your blog that just isn’t attainable here! But it’s fun to see the products and read your thoughts nonetheless! You write well, are funny, and have great pictures. What more could a person ask for from a beauty blog!
May you continue on for many years to come and I wish you even greater success!
Paris B says
Hi Christina, thank you for your well wishes and for leaving a comment! It warms my heart to know that there are people reading this all the way halfway across the world! 😀 I too love reading about brands and products that aren’t available here even if it frustrates me because oft times, they all sound amazing 😀 Thank you again x
Phyllicia says
Congrats on celebrating your 7-year blog anniversary. Hoping for many more years to come. ^^
Paris B says
Thank you my dear! I hope so too! 😀