Hello and welcome to this brand new series “Getting to Know You”. This is a once a month series where I’ll be answering questions from readers and followers and letting you see a bit more ‘behind the curtain”. From personal details about my life and family to more career oriented details to get to know me better. Today’s topic is all about the Why / How of my blogging journey.
In the spring of 2009, B and I moved from our little bungalow outside of Philadelphia back to central PA where B is originally from. While much closer to my own family too, we were temporarily living with B’s parents.
It was in the middle of the economic downturn and like so many other families, we really struggled between lost jobs and the slowing housing market. We were so fortunate to have family to lean on while we worked through our challenges.
Leaving our home, our friends and our life was hard and unlike B, I didn’t find a job. So, while he spent his days making new office friends and starting fresh, I felt much more closed off and stationery. It was during that time that B and I agreed I’d give my freelance work a go at a full time job so that became my focus. It was also during that time that I got hooked on a few style blogs and anxiously awaited new posts from my favorites. It gave me an outlet and let me live a little through the lives of these bloggers that were so beautifully documented on the internet. Of course I knew that I was only seeing what they wanted me to see, but it gave me some light in an otherwise dark time.
When B and I first started working on our house in 2010, I decided to try my hand at blogging for the first time. Not as a job or to get a lot of followers but as a way to document our journey with this old, run down house. I kept it up for a while merely as a way to keep my family in touch with all the work that we were doing.
Then, once we reached a livable point with the house, I stopped blogging.
One of the basic keys to a successful blog is writing about something you are passionate about and won’t tire of talking about every day. As my business grew, I felt the desire to get back into blogging so in the early 2010s I started blogging again trying everything from style blogging to home decor and a mix of both. Each time, I’d start off great, get shy or afraid or busy with other things and then quit.
I’ve honestly lost track of how many blogs I’ve started over the years, none of them feeling quite right. Around 2014, I started a blog for my stationery company which I tried to mix in some of the other things I was passionate about. That didn’t feel right either and when things got busy with orders and clients, the blog was forgotten about. (Sound familiar?)
Then in 2017 when so much changed all at once, I was feeling the need for a fresh start and that’s when Twig and White was born. The name doesn’t mean the same thing to me as it did back then and I will probably eventually change it to my name but it’s the first and only blog that I’ve stuck with even if it’s sporadic at times.
Blogging and I were made for each other. I love writing. I love creating. I love how it challenges me and how I don’t feel constrained the way I do sometimes with my business. I may not be changing the world but if I can touch, inspire, teach or uplift just one person, then it’s all worth it.
If you have a questions you’d like to know about me, leave a comment or shoot me an email at hello@twigandwhite.com and I’ll answer your questions in a future post!
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