Evolving. Expanding. But still writing

I’ve been blogging for close to nine years now.

Because it's IBOT tomorrow

A post shared by Serenely (@livingserenely) on Feb 24, 2014 at 5:40am PST

I first started out writing mainly as a way to keep family and friends updated on my life. I still do.

However recently my blogging has evolved and expanded to become a platform for me to make new connections, discover new passions, develop new skills and broaden my horizons.

A few of you might have noticed that I’ve been going through a clean up and overhaul of my blog and social media networks, working with Alison of Little Love Media to help me in this process, to get more focused and intentional about my online presence.

Among numerous things that came up, the two that I’ve been tip-toeing and ho-humming about are:

1. Getting my own domain name;
   and
2. Twitter.

Getting my own domain name feels like a really big, big deal to me. I somehow don’t feel I am deserving of it. I mean I’m just a tiny little blogger hardly even making a dent or even a small dimple in this huge community. So why should I get my own domain name? I’m just a little nobody.

I do know in my head all the right reasons for investing in my own domain name. I’ve had the point hammered down my throat a thousand times. In the end I know it all just comes down to me.

As for Twitter, perhaps it’s just me, but it’s simply one of those things I don’t really ‘get’.

Maybe I started out following all the wrong people to begin with, but I found the constant stream of tweets somehow a little overwhelming. But I’ve been told that I can’t really ignore Twitter if I hope to grow and expand further. So I decided to jump back on the bandwagon, strip down some my old followings, start afresh and see how it goes. If you see a @livingserenely suddenly stalking you out of nowhere, you’ll know why.

Anyway, after an honest assessment of where I’m currently at, I felt a little beaten up seeing how far away I still was from my aspirations. I also had a few discouraging moments too when it felt like nobody out there seemed to care, especially when it came to friends IRL (versus those in the blogging community). And I kept asking myself why (a pointless exercise, I know).

Perhaps I’m actually not that likeable a person.

Perhaps I’m just too different.

Perhaps people think I’m just being a show-off.

Perhaps everything I have to say is just completely pointless and irrelevant.

(Or perhaps I’m simply just digging a hole for myself to wallow in)

Then I read this…

Readers are readers.
Listeners are listeners.
Friends are friends.
Humans are humans.
Honour them. Respect them. Write your _____ off for them.
Do it with grace — whether they’re standing directly in front of you, or seated halfway across the world.
Because you never know whose life YOUR words are going to touch, transform or even heal.

And I thought about the people I do know and I pictured them sitting in front of their computers/laptops/tablets/phones reading my words and genuinely wanting to find out how I’m doing.

So I knew. As long as they’re there. I’ll be here. Still writing.

Did you first hesitate over getting your own domain name? What helped you make the jump?
Is Twitter still as awesome as they say it is? How do you navigate all that tweet-minology and lingo?
Do you ever wallow in your ‘smallness’ in the great big WWW? Or do you just know that you ARE a big deal?
Am I asking too many questions today?

Blogging with Jess today on IBOT