You guys, blogging is weird. Blogging “professionally” is even more weird. You’re sharing so much of yourself with a whoooooole bunch of strangers. It can definitely be scary.
Inspiration for this post came while editing some photos that I’m super excited about. I had an incredible day last week where I hit two really awesome spots that I took photos at. I was seriously on cloud nine. I couldn’t stop smiling or talking about my day. One stop was an abandoned building, and the second a cemetery. It was while I was editing the cemetery photos that I thought “crap, I can’t post these for a while.” Why? Because earlier that week I had already posted about a cemetery. Something told me posting another would be seen as too creepy, weird or …whatever. This has been a thought that occurs way more often than it should for me, and not just about cemetery photos. It’s been weighing on my shoulders for too long.
A few weeks back when I posted photos of the bridge along with a little personal chit chat the response was incredibly positive. It felt good to open up. I never really feel like I’m “hiding” anything from y’all but in the spirit of being completely transparent I guess this has been something I’ve wanted to talk about but have been too afraid to…
You may remember I had a reader survey sometime last year. I was really excited to hear more about the things you guys wanted to read, not in the sense like let me pretend I’m interested in this or that to get hits but was there something I’m already doing that you’re interested in learning more about – blogging tips, favorite make-up products, etc. I didn’t want to stop posting about anything, just start posting about other things more. I made sure to pose the questions so that it would be a positive thing. Somehow a number of people still took it as an opportunity to tell me how much they hated essentially everything I had been writing about since moving. One thing that stuck out to me, said by a small handful of people, was how much they hated my posts about abandoned buildings. (Someone also said not to post photos of Klaus because they didn’t like him… wut?!) I took that fairly personally. I totally get that seeing photos of abandoned buildings may not be everyone’s cup of tea but it was almost like the response wasn’t about the fact they didn’t like these photos. It was more that they were sour The Dainty Squid had changed. Why wasn’t I posting about crafty stuff anymore, why did it have to be abandoned buildings on here now?
While this blog is my bread and butter, and I have to take into consideration what people like to some extent. I also have to remember that it’s my blog, I can post about what I’d like because that’s what it’s about. The Dainty Squid is my photo album. It’s my place to write about all the things I’m passionate about, all the things I’m doing, learning, exploring, etc. Those things will always be changing. These past few years The Dainty Squid has definitely changed… because I’ve changed and that’s a real good thing. Right now I’m not crafting as much as I was when I first started this blog. It would be dishonest for me to pretend that I’m still sewing every day and continue to blog about that sort of thing simply because that’s what some people have come to expect. I’ve found many other passions that I now write about!
I guess the whole point of this was to say that you should post about whatever you feel like posting, not what you feel pressured into posting about, that’s what will make your blog stand out from the crowd. I know whenever I mention blog stuff I always talk about how I’ve felt uneasy about not fitting into a specific blogging niche but I’m becoming more and more comfortable with it as time goes on. I like that on The Dainty Squid I can write about a dilapidated building one day and then my favorite bath products the next day because that’s totally me. I like getting dirty, exploring and then coming home to take a bubble bath and do fun nail art. I’m not for everyone, and that’s a-okay with me.
I should clarify that the point of this post isn’t to be a brat and exclaim “I’ll post what I want” but instead, like I mentioned at the beginning of the post, to just get this off of my chest. I don’t want to feel stressed about posting about what I like anymore. It’s been weighing me down for some time. I can’t tell you how good it feels to type this.
To everyone out there who “puts up” with my cemetery posts, abandoned building photos, and diverse and sometimes strange interests because you can respect the fact it’s something I’m passionate about – YOU DA BEST. Thank you so much. To everyone out there reading who just can’t handle those posts anymore – Adios, thank you for reading. No hard feelings, seriously! People grow, and a lot of the time it’s in different directions. Maybe someday our interests will cross paths again!
xoxo