How Blogging Has Made Me Grow As a Person

WHAT I’VE LEARNT

I’ve been blogging since 2010 but didn’t really properly get into it since mid 2012. After all these years, I did think whether it has helped me grow as a person. For the past week, I’ve been thinking how it helped me grow. There was one particular issue I had grown from (maybe not 100% but getting there) which I’m going to explain now.

Body Image
To those who have been following my Twitter for years knows that I have body image issues. Apologies to those who I’ve annoyed over the years because I’ve complained about it often, way too often. I must admit, I did think that being thin was the perfect image which was portrayed by the media and even by fashion bloggers! Being the stubborn person I am, I would never listen to my friends or my past relationships (but then again, past relationships did make me feel low about myself due to problems and no support or comforting whatsoever from the other half).

Over the years, I’ve read plenty of those high number of followers fashion bloggers. I did envy them and thought thin was the way to have a shot at making it into this blogging world. You can easily get eaten up by it as it can be overwhelming. It was only since June where I’ve got out of my last relationship, I had started to properly discover and read more of the smaller bloggers, even local to me and thought, these are real people who I can talk to and get a response on Twitter etc. Then it just hit me. Everyone comes in different shapes and sizes and I’ve began to accept my body shape. Yes I am quite broad, have an athletic body shape and know that I’ll never be able to be stick thin and what? I do have to odd “I’m not stick thin” moments but it’s not as bad as it use to be. I will get there eventually.

Criticism
Criticism is one of those things everyone hates. Even when I was in high school and college, I didn’t like criticism my teachers gave me about any of my art projects. I use to think I did those projects perfectly. Thinking about it now, it was their job to guide me, to help me improve and do the best I can.

There is a difference between getting criticism and hate comments. I’ve had comments I felt were insulting years ago and yeah they did hurt but they made me stronger. I don’t care for them now. I laugh it off. As with criticism, I’ve learnt to accept and take them as a way of making note on to improve my blog if relevant or as a second opinion. It is easy to read criticism and bite back at them, scooping down to their level but you’ve got to be the bigger person and leave it. You cannot please every single reader. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, just don’t take it to heart. There will be something you’re not too fond of on a particular post someone has posted. Works both ways.

Comfort Zone
There are many things I wouldn’t usually do in real life never mind blogging. Blogging has opened my eyes to something I never thought I could ever do, forcing me to step out of my comfort zone. For example, I take outfit photos outside and will get the “what is she doing?” or the odd “oh she’s a tourist taking photos of everything” look. This particular one also links to my body image problem. Stepping out of my comfort zone has given me more confidence and have met some lovely people too.

Not Caring
I did use to care what people think of me blogging. Over 4 years ago, blogging wasn’t as big. Posting it on Twitter and Facebook was definitely a no go as there was a chance of getting laughed at for any product “selfies” therefore keeping the blog hidden. We all know how bitchy people can get. Now I just promote it on my social media, without spamming every hour, annoying people with it. It’s easier now as blogging is a big. I’ve met lots of other like minded individuals and it can be refreshing to talk about any blog related. It’s like they understand you and are definitely in your shoes!

My office knows I blog and it does get embarrassing when someone randomly reads it around me. I have talked about it since they were intrigued and were asking questions. Some colleagues have blogged previously and stopped or are blogging still.

Has blogging helped you becoming a better person?