THE TROUBLE WITH BLOGGING

Blogging used to be something I adored, something I would plough hours into each week. A place where I could interact with like minded people and form real friendships. I started blogging in the summer of 2012 and continued pretty consistently until mid 2015, then things took a bit of a nosedive. I found myself no longer relating to many of the bloggers I'd previously loved catching up on posts from; as they grew, so did their budgets, with many of the products they wrote about being unattainable and their flash lifestyles unrealistic to the Average Joe with a 9-5 job and three cats (aka me). They became less personable, their lives less aligned with mine, as did the blogging community generally. I began to care less about faddy products, and more about more 'grown up', less material, topics.

It seems as though I wasn't the only one feeling as though times had changed, as I noticed many other bloggers seemed to fall off the face of the earth around the same time, being replaced by the, shall we say, 'super blogger'. Yes, many of these bloggers bought their own houses around the same time as me, are in the same stages of their relationships as me, and so on, but their version has this beautiful, shiny gloss over it all. Their first homes pristine - let me tell you, over a year on from buying mine, I'm still nowhere near close - their bags and shoes designer and their relationships - full of globe trotting together and whilst all of that is amazing, and I am not at all bashing these people for all they have achieved, it just isn't me.

I have no desire to be a full time blogger, but recently I've been pondering and can't help but think that I can't be the only one who feels this way. Surely there are other people who just want to blog for the hobby without the pressure or posting 'x' times a week and reaching 'y' amount of readers. Sometimes it's nice just to know that there are people out there just like you; working hard to make ends meet, with their hair and makeup primarily imperfect, their home a working progress or even none existent at present, and without all their ducks in a row.  Just sharing something when they feel like sharing it.

I've noticed more 'real life' bloggers cropping up recently (my lovely friend Tasmin did this very real post that I shouted a big fat "YES!" to not too long ago), or maybe they've always been there and I've just been looking in the wrong places, but I know that that is a community I want to be part of. Somewhere where real life is celebrated, and achievements are more than just blog based. Where every personal obstacle that someone overcomes can be shared, and those who are struggling can be supported. And that's why I want back in, whether that be on a part time or even very loose basis.