post – Mind Beauty Simplicity

Happy Halloween & final day of Blogtober! I can’t believe I actually managed to accomplish such a challenge. To be honest, I thought I had too much personal things going on that would cause me to call off the entire thing. But since I had it all written & scheduled, I pushed forward & successfully made it through my first year of Blogtober. Here’s what I learned:

Writers Block Who?!

As a writer, I tend to give myself a hard time when I’m dealing with spouts of writer’s block. After this challenge, where I was able to come up with 31 pieces of content, I will no longer feel this way about myself. If I can successfully do this challenge, I can do anything. And if writer’s block does happen again, I now understand as writers, we are not machines & merely humans. Taking breaks are healthy & crucial to allow ourselves to ignite the inspiration again. And I’ve also come to the conclusion of determining a more a proper blogging schedule for the near future. I’ll talk about some of the blogging changes in another blog post coming soon.

Engaging is A Second Job

Replying back to comments & reading other people’s posts took up lots of time. One of the hardest parts of this challenge was being active on social media & engaging with other blogger’s work. There were definitely a few days I was more MIA than others. But it was a great reminder to know to have balance with your blogging life & real life. I learned to plan out at least one day where I spent time reading & replying back to comments. I found it important to support other bloggers even more this month whether they were participating in this challenge or not. But I made sure it wasn’t an everyday routine, as I knew this would lead to burnout.

I Got to Be More Creative

I was able to go outside my niche & experiment with other topics & writing styles. It was a great way to expand my craft. I mean, I even shared a poem with you all. LOL And I learned having a niche can be good but you shouldn’t limit yourself either. It’s your blog, so write what you enjoy. I hope to continue with this mindset in the future with my blog posts.

Blogging Became Fun Again

I returned with the mindset that blogging should be fun & a creative outlet. Before this challenge, I was in a rut with my blog. I didn’t have an interest in continuing it. But Blogtober sparked that love for writing in myself again. It was a reminder to myself that even when it comes to a passion, you can & will experience burn out at times. And it’s quite alright to make a few changes along the way.

Supporting Other Bloggers Feels Good

My favorite part of blogging is connecting with other writers in the community. Reading your Blogtober posts, sharing ideas & collaborating made it even more worth while. I’m always so impressed with the entire community & the amount of talented individuals we have here. Cheers to all of us!

Will I Do This Again?

It’s hard to say how I’ll be feeling a year from now & where I’ll be. But writing about spooky season & fall was something I really enjoyed. So, maybe I’ll do this again – maybe just not daily. LOL I also learned life can be pretty unpredictable & sometimes you need to re-evaluate your routine to combat changes along the way. This challenge solidified the fact quality is better than quantity. Perhaps in the future I won’t post daily & merely share a few Halloween blog posts & spend more time promoting the few I decide to share.

If you have the time though, I definitely recommend Blogtober to all bloggers. It’s a great way to feel connected to in the community & to express your writing skills. I’m so proud of myself, the bloggers who also participated & how far we’ve come. I managed to hit 1,500 subscribers on the blog this month which is quite a milestone in my book. I look forward to see this blogging family grow.

Happy Halloween everyone! 🎃

-B

Why is it we tend to only pride ourselves of the big accomplishments? Do we feel like our small wins are not worth to brag about? I’m here to tell you, THEY ARE worth it & here’s why.

Burn out is a real problem in today’s day & age. I’ve talked about the importance of self care & slowing down your routines, but I haven’t yet discussed the importance of celebrating every achievement in your life, especially those little ones. And to prevent this so called burn out, we MUST take the time to acknowledge these small victories as they are the parachutes to our bigger destinations. It’s so important to enjoy the journey if you will & take in those small ounces of growth. Because once you do make it big or get to the top of the mountain so to speak, you’ll be proud of how you got there.

Take social media for instance, I feel like most people wait to announce their biggest accomplishments on there. Whether its an engagement, marriage, new job, promotion or travel opportunity, people are quick to announce those things. It’s a braggers right, isn’t it? But I guess posting a photo of your coffee mug with the caption, “tasty brew today” isn’t quite enough to be brag worthy.

But I’m saying, maybe we should do that! Maybe if we focused our attention on smaller accomplishments, our feeds wouldn’t be bombarded by highlight reels of amazing opportunities. Not so say we shouldn’t be proud of those moments. Maybe we should celebrate those small victories to be more relatable & show others that small hints of gratitude are something to be proud of too. I think for the sake of society, we would all benefit from this.

I know for a fact, if I posted a picture of me just getting out bed in the morning with the caption, “actually got my ass out of bed this morning, win win for me” it wouldn’t get that much praise. I honestly wish it would though because for some people, that’s a huge accomplishment. But I get it. Those victories don’t compare to those who have bought a house or won a Nobel prize. But it shouldn’t mean you should feel any less for your small victories. No wonder people struggle with self esteem. The world makes the little things seem pointless.

Taking pride in those small wins helps maintain proper mental health. To achieve in this life, I feel like the main characteristic to have is a good attitude. I love the quote, “when you focus on the good, the good gets better” & I think that half of the reason we have tough times, is not thinking every aspect of our lives are wins. Just being alive another day should be enough, you know?

I also feel like we are always looking for the next best things in life. And my biggest fear of mine, is waiting for this so called “big accomplishment” & never feeling like I really get there. And the reason for this is the notion of always wanting something bigger & better. Once you accomplish one thing, you are off to the next one. And it’s this big endless cycle of never really measuring up. So, why not look at your entire life as one big painting. Each little paint stroke leads you to the final masterpiece. An artist doesn’t wisk through a project & just say it simply appeared there. They acknowledge the time it took to get there, every mark & line, & every color used to get to the finished product. And I think we should treat our lives the same way.

What are some of your small wins today? Comment down below.

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-B