To say I never saw my future as one involved in blogging is a bit of an understatement.
When I thought of blogging when I was younger, my thoughts would travel to the Zoella types – young, female, pretty and painfully good with hair and make up. My hair is lucky if I unleash it from the mum bun and comb it once a week, never mind figure out how to do a fish-tail braid crown with *just* the right amount of “messy” strands at the from. Make up is something that takes me roughly 3.2 minutes to do in the morning after unlatching the baby from the nipple and often in conjunction with the morning piddle. I’m a multi-tasker but that is probably where you can draw the line with similarities between me and the queen of the vlog-blog.
I talk a lot about stereotyping on the blog and yet I’ve just proved my point that we ALL do it. I never knew there were different strains of blogger – feminist bloggers, technology bloggers, beauty and fashion bloggers, parenting bloggers… there is a niche for everything and everyone (including pets – something I’m considering setting up next year if I can be bothered to kick my arse into gear and actually maintain Yoda’s instagram account…) Blogging is a career now, a damned good one at that – one that helps us work flexibly and in turn brings people who maybe felt alone closer together. No longer is it all about hair or make up my friends. Blogging is as diverse as the world it thrives in.
There are so many ways in which blogging professionally differs from my past life in retail. Some of it (most, let’s be honest, it’s most) is positive; the flexibility to be there as and when the kids want or need me, the opportunities that I’m lucky enough to have, the pride in something that I have created from scratch with minimal input from others, just to name a few. It would be unfair, though, to make out that blogging didn’t have downsides as it sure does, there is an element of instability to blogging – if I’m not on point all of the time, if I’m ill and can’t meet a deadline then I just won’t get paid. There are moments when you will be trolled by lonely people with nothing better to do on twitter and there are moments when you will feel quite lonely yourself. One aspect that rarely get’s talked about, and maybe it’s because blogging is still a relatively new profession in the UK and many people in more established fields have the same issue, but blogging can be a lot of sitting at a desk and typing. I suppose the major difference is that if you have an employer they will be expected to provide you with furniture at work yet a blogger can often be earning a a full time wage, sat on their sofa, hunched over a laptop and instagramming the shit out of flat lays they have set up in their living room. It’s just the way life goes sometimes.
I suppose after years of running up and down the shop floor, climbing ladders in stock rooms and being generally up and about, the sedentary part of blogging is something I find harder to deal with from a health perspective, especially with regards to exercise or snacking. It’s not something that all bloggers struggle with, I follow a few fitness bloggers who are out and about, posting from their phones and just make the old me feel like a couch potato (speaking of couch – couch to 5k bloggers are insanely motivational) but for some of us, having to sit and write whilst knowing there is a kitchen with a beautiful chocolate cake that snuck into your shopping basket just awaiting your next tea break can make it harder to stay on track.
Blogging is something that I would certainly recommend for anyone, whether you just want to indulge a creative angle of your life that you don’t feel is being fulfilled or whether you’re just looking for a place to get those rambling out, I also think there has to be something said for taking it seriously. I can’t tell you how often I get told I’m lucky to get “freebies” or asked if I’m planning on getting a job once Edith goes to school. The truth is, I work hard, really hard and though I’ll be the first to admit that blogging is a profession that is seriously #blessed (instagrammers will see what I did there) there are downsides.
I look forward to a day when my kids are older and freelance work of this style can glean the respect and understanding that it truly deserves.
What is your profession? Do you blog or would you like to?
H x
*Collaboration with Furniture at Work 🙂
Yes to all of this! It is hard and you have to be highly motivated to be self employed, which luckily I am, if not obsessed. I’m now blogging full time around my littles and I absolutely love it, even though it can be tough.
I blog in very much in my spare time at the moment. Would love to do more with it!
I blog part time at the moment but I hope I eventually make it full time!
I have been blogging nearly six years and what started out as a keepsake for my children has actually turned into my job, I left my part-time job in July as it was becoming increasingly difficult to juggle the seven children. life, husbands PA etc and I now blog and manage some social media accounts for companies that have come about from blogging, I have a degree in childcare and I never dreamed seven years ago I would be able to work from home around the children doing something I enjoy as much as I do!
I enjoy blogging, there’s so much to do and it annoys me when people think I’m just laying about in bed – I wish. With all the photos, editing, research, writing – it doesn’t stop there – you get the gist lol x
I have to agree with you on so many points,. I never thought I would be a blogger but after nearly two years, I don’t know what I would do without it in my life!
I accidentally became a blogger, which is my hobby as I also work full-time. I love Yoda’s Instagram account, Too cute! 🙂
http://lilinhaangel.com/
Being a student at the moment, I’m constantly thinking about where I want my future to go. Of course I have no idea at the moment but I really love the idea of blogging being part of it. Over the last year it has meant so much so I wouldn’t want that to get lost!
i love to blog. i like to put my own creativity and style into it, make it me. it’s my way of destressing after a stressful day at work
I’m a nurse but maybe some point in the future I could step down the hours with the help of blogging, especially when I have children that I’ll want to spend time with them!
I am not a professional blogger however I do free-lance gigs on top of my regular job. It’s true that for me it wouldn’t be possible to work from home. I need to see people and I need some exercise.
Mika | http://www.la-french-connection.com
Blogging is my job full time but its so much harder than it looks to the outside world! xxx
I love the post!! Its so easy when you’re not a blogger to look and think its so easy etc, I didn’t realise until I started how much more to it there is!! I’m so incredibly happy and I really enjoy being a part of the blogging world! For myself I’d love if this turned into my job but for now it isn’t, I just get so much joy out of writing! I have two small children so this is perfect for me!
I hate that people think everything is perfect as a filter! I love blogging x
I never thought I would be a blogger either, but it’s the best thing ever. Especially with a baby on the way.