How two years of blogging changed me

Good morning friends, good afternoon, or good evening, depending when you’re reading this. How are you ? I hope your week is going great so far. Today’s usually the day where I ramble endlessly, or answer some fun tagg-ish questions, but…well what do you know, I can still be surprising, I guess ?

Also, there is a little something that happened, which you can probably guess from the title already. It has been TWO YEARS now that I started this little blog, as shaky as it was, at first, it quickly became an obsession, then a habit, a source of guilt, stress as much as a source of endless fangirling. If I were to sum it up in a word, it definitely would be an adventure. But I’m a big fan of ramblings, and two years committing to a little plateform online allows me, I think, to ramble a bit.

Yeah, this is the French for, You subscribed to WordPress 2 years ago. I started this in French. Oops.

If anyone told me a couple years ago that I would be doing this now, or that I would have accomplished so many things thanks to a little place on my screen called Drizzle & Hurricane Books, I had no idea how I would have reacted. I always loved books, but I guess being away from my family and wanting to read more and more made me closer to doing this, then to finally click on a button, find out a name inspired by my favorite books and feelings, and just DO THE DAMN REGISTER thing. And two years later, here I still am, listening and not shouting into the void as I thought I would be. Because people are listening, and there are basically NO words big enough to thank you for that.

Growing is a continuous process, but with blogging, I’d like to think I have grown in many ways, both in numbers I never thought I would get, and in a more personal way. Obviously my personal life is nothing like it was two years ago, and blogging kind of affected this. Because now I get the “Do you have to make pictures of your books?” question from my mom, all excited to imagine how to put them together. Now I get the “Are these ALL THE BOOKS I have to read BECAUSE OF YOU?” question from my sister, looking at everything I bought and got through before she could even finish one (Really, she means to thank me. She really does. I mean, I BUY THE BOOKS. I think I’m kind of losing here.) Now I get the endless bookish recommendations, the endless fangirling with people I didn’t even know before, the weekends spent crafting blog posts and long days at work made better by a WordPress notification. Blogging has definitely become a massive part of my life.

Obviously it’s not all sunshine and rainbows, because there are many challenges in being a blogger. Being worried about stats, about WHAT TO SAY, about wanting to stand out but having NO idea how. About being able to read all the books but having no time to do so, about wanting to love and comment everywhere but having no time, blog but having no time. Basically the biggest challenge of it all, is TIME. Despite these constant struggles and the guilt that comes biting me at times, there is something I can say for sure after two years or more or not steady blogging : I am actually content with what I am doing, and I think there’s this passion and obsession -a healthy one, let me reassure you-, that drives me and has given me a new purpose, new ideas, endless stream of thoughts in my brain that I love.

There are many different opinions on the bookish community as well, and if overall everyone wants to think it’s all sunshine and rainbows as well – I’m the first one to -, we all know it’s bound to be filled with some disagreaments once in a while and some dramas. It is bound to happen. But if I have to say something here, in TWO years of blogging – and as Joey said in his fantastic blog post celebrating his three years -, if something made me stay, it’s that. The community, the people. There is passion for what I am doing, for sure. It has even become a habit. But it wouldn’t have been if it wasn’t for the community. Some people would say, or think that they’d feel motivated if they got folllowers, better stats, loads of comments. They are numbers, and we are kind of crafted to love high numbers. Like seeing a billion dollars check, you know. I wouldn’t say no to it, but if this meant giving up the people I loved, then thanks, no thanks. I’m not saying you can have it all, but I am saying that in the bookish community, if there is something I can be thankful for, it’s YOU. Reading this post. Sharing the love. Feeling part of something passionnate, something that has a voice and is heard. I feel lucky enough to have gain a number of followers I never thought would be possible, to be honest. But I feel EVEN LUCKIER to have gain friends. People I know I can count on. For bookish recommendations, and sometimes even for more.

Obviously here there are people I want to thank in these two years of blogging. For always being here, for the bookish and non-bookish recommendations. Even sometimes for being there for me on a personal level –you’ll know who you are, I hope. For the thoughtful comments, the funny ones, the Twitter discussions and the bookish dreams and fangirling at all times. Obviously, in no particular order,

Kat, Reg, Fadwa, Jillian, Lashaan & Trang, Joey, Lauren,  Beth, Lais, Summer, Stephanie, Jenna, Jeann,  CW, Puput, Sara, Liam, Kevin,  Rivka,  Daley, Lydia,  Lindsey, Drew, Pamela, Hannah, Donna, Niraja,  Poulami, Shanti & Shar, Cait, Geraldine, Naz, Yani, Jess, Becca, Jamie, Anne, Yarravy, Michelle and you, you, you.

Check out their blogs, if you don’t know them, leave them love, comments, and just make sure they know how awesome they are. And if you’re not here, I am sorry I have the memory of a gold fish but I LOVE YOU. If we ever talked in comments, fangirled about something, even if it’s just this one time, thank YOU.

If blogging changed me, if it made me passionate, mildly even more obsessed about books than I was before, it’s all because of you as well. So thank you.

How long have you been blogging ? What do YOU think blogging changed, in your life, and in yourself ? I’d love to know! 💬