. thinking out loud #145 .

We interrupt your regular #thinkingoutloud intro for a special announcement…

Three years ago today, I anxiously (seriously; I was a nervous wreck) hit ‘publish’ on my very first [post-hiatus] post, and here I am 1092 days and 880 posts later (!!!) not really knowing how I got here, but being more than happy that I did.

For real. If you would have asked me even 3 years ago if I ever thought that I’d be including “blogger” in my job description, I would have looked at you like you’re crazy… probably similar to how people look at me now when I tell them I blog for a living. Blogging has become a lot more mainstream in the past couple of years, but there’s still a lot of misconceptions about it… especially when it comes to making an income. And that brings us to the crux of this post…

Oh, and excuse all the random collages littered throughout this post. Easier on the eyes.

Anyways. I was originally planning on using today’s post as an excuse to share some blogging tips with you guys, until I realized that I already did that last year and that I’d pretty much just be repeating myself since all of what I said back then still rings true today. That and there are so many informative blogging articles out there, that I’m not really sure I’d have anything valuable to add that hasn’t already been said 100 times over. So I scrapped that idea and decided to just sit down and write whatever came to mind — pure stream of consciousness style. 

Hopefully this doesn’t end up all over the place… 

So. Blogging. It’s been one heck of a journey…

I originally started blogging as a way to help me through my eating disorder recovery after finding an online community of girls who were going through the same thing; continued blogging because I fell in love with the creative outlet it provided me with; and began taking it more seriously when I discovered that I could combine my passion for writing, photography, and helping others in what eventually went on to become a slightly unconventional job that ended up being the perfect fit for me.

And the craziest thing is that this definitely wasn’t in my 5-year plan. I finished university with a degree in psychology and a plan to go on to grad school… and then I got sick. I know it’s a little cliche to say that everything happens for a reason, but I truly, wholeheartedly, 100% believe that it does. And that positive things can come out of the worst situations, even if we can’t see them at the time. People look at me like I’m crazy when I tell them that I wouldn’t go back and ‘undo’ my eating disorder if I could… but it’s the God’s honest truth. I’m a better person coming out of it than I was going in, and those experiences have proven invaluable when it comes to my overall mentality and general outlook on life. 

So what am I trying to say here? I’m saying don’t worry. Don’y worry if you don’t have it all figured out; if you’re in school, done school, or going into school and you have no idea what you want to be when you grow up. Things have a way of working out despite (or in spite of) our meddling, hence the expression “life is what happens while we’re busy making other plans.” Ask yourself if you’re where you thought you would be 5 years ago, and I can almost guarantee you that the answer will be no. Everything will work out in the end.

And don’t worry if you’re currently going through a hard time. If you’re in a hole so deep that even the thought of taking that first step back up towards the surface exhausts and discourages you because of how far you have to go. Take baby steps. Take it one day at a time. Remember that “this too shall pass,” and that every experience, no matter how painful, is meant to teach us something. Mind the lesson. 

I know this is a little (read: a lot) deeper than most of my other Thinking Out Loud posts, but birthdays make me reflective, apparently. I promise to get back to the lighthearted randomness next week.

And because there’s no way I could celebrate a blogging birthday without tipping my [non-existant] hat to the main reason I blog (read: you guys), be sure to check back tomorrow for a special giveaway that I think you’ll enjoy. See you then!