You may or may not have noticed that I've been a bit absent from my blog recently. I was really excited to write up all my travelling posts and get back into blogging on a regular basis, but I found my enthusiasm slowly draining over the past few weeks, and I've just now figured out why.
I follow a lot of other blogs and read them on a regular basis. I also follow my favourite bloggers on various social media sites. As a result, every time I go online, I'm surrounded by bloggers who are doing really well, producing great content that brings a lot of reader interaction, and getting fantastic opportunities. Don't get me wrong, I'm so happy for them all and love seeing them do well, but it causes me to look at my own blog and I can't help but feel inferior.
I in no way expect my blog to ever be as big as theirs and to be honest, I don't know if I'd actually want it to be. It is not my intention to become a full-time blogger because I'm at uni and will hopefully land a journalism job that I love when I graduate. I just worry that my blog isn't as good as it could be and that I'm not working hard enough. Like I said, though, I'm at uni so that has to be my priority. I've also been suffering with terrible headaches and migraines recently, which has made sitting down at my laptop to spend ages doing a blog post almost impossible.
A few days ago I realised that I was putting a bit too much pressure on myself. At the end of the day, this is just a little space on the internet for me to write about whatever I feel like. It doesn't have to be anything special, it doesn't have to keep up with any trends, and I don't have to feel bad about myself for not being some kind of blogging Queen.
I started my blog because I love to write and I want to share some of that with anyone who fancies reading it. It's as simple as that so I'm going to go back to basics a little. I'm going to relax and stop comparing my blog to others' and constantly checking my stats. I'm going to write about whatever I want, without worrying about whether it will be a popular post or not. I'd like to do more lifestyle posts because I enjoy writing them, but I've always been worried about what people would think.
Sorry for the rambly post but I just wanted to explain my absence while also sharing my thoughts on blogging a little bit. I'd love to hear from anyone else who's been in a similar situation or who understands the feeling of your blog never being good enough. At the end of the day, it's all just a bit of fun so we should be enjoying it!
Have you ever felt disheartened by blogging? How did you get past it?