5 Things I’ve Learnt From Blogging

This post is in collaboration with Elle from ellesunpopularopinions. If that blog name doesn’t draw you in and make you want to follow her blog then I don’t know what will! We connected through blogging and started talking and decided to collaborate and write two posts together- check out our first one by clicking here. I’m so happy to finally post this because we actually wrote this a while back but unfortunately Elle was having trouble with her WiFi and could not blog. But now that the problem is fixed please go over to her awesome blog and support her- you can do so by clicking here.
I think blogging is such a great outlet for so many people and blogging sort of gives you a platform which is a blank slate and you get to make your blog into whatever you want. It also provides you with one of the best communities I have seen on the Internet. Unlike other platforms, WordPress/blogging allows you to truly express yourself and engage with people that you can have genuine conversations with in a positive manner. 
Elle and I also felt like blogging has taught us so much. Although I have been blogging for longer than she has we both realised that we had picked up on a lot of similar things about blogging. That’s why we decided to write about the lessons we have learnt from blogging: The first five are mine and the last five are hers. 

You Can Find Friends Everywhere

With blogging you are not limited to people in just your city/state.country. One of the best parts about blogging is that you get to connect with people all over the world and it doesn’t limit you to connecting with people from just one area. What that helped me learn was that no matter where you go you will always find someone you can connect and engage with. You just need to be open and step out of your comfort zone a little bit. 

What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Stronger

Blogging is a lot more difficult than people think it is. People always assume that things that people do on the Internet are for some reason easier than things that are done in real life but that is really not true. Firstly, just getting the hang of blogging and how it works takes a lot of effort for anyone who isn’t really tech savvy and finding something to write about every day/week/month can be very difficult as well. Growing your audience is another difficulty that you face especially at the beginning. And just like with everything on the Internet you of course are going to run into some hater as well. But what blogging taught me that really works as a lesson about blogging and about life too is that what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger. Working hard to learn about blogging and to come up with things to write about helps you grow, better your writing, sharpen your skills and more. And receiving hate makes you realise just how unimportant other people’s opinions are. It teaches you to keep doing you without caring about pleasing others. 

Numbers Don’t Matter

Another thing that blogging and spending years growing my blog has taught me is that numbers really don’t matter as much as people often seem to think they do. If you want to become an influencer/make money blogging then yes numbers do matter to an extent. However, for me personally I’ve realised that as honoured as I am to have the followers I do have what I cherish most are the comments and interactions I have with other bloggers. 

You Know Nothing

This is a lesson I learnt from going through all of your amazing blogs over the last few years. Much like Jon Snow, I really know nothing. After going through other blogs I have learnt so many things about so many topics. I have learnt about everything from music to history to astronomy to sociology to lessons about life. When I say about everything I mean everything. It was an awesome wake up call for the little teenage know-it-all I used to be and I love that I was able to learn so much more than I ever imagined possible.  

Life Is A Two Way Street

If there is one thing I really picked up on with blogging it’s that life is a two way street. You get back what you put out there. No one is going to care about your existence and be there for you if you don’t care about them. Most things are a two way street. If you want something from someone you need to be out there getting something for them too. 

It Isn’t Always Rainbows and Butterflies

Remember the time when you’re so excited to hit that keyboard with all your thoughts? Yeah, I miss that too. And don’t get me wrong, I am ALWAYS excited–as a very clingy and happy anxious person– to connect with my blogger friends, with Pooja, and read other blogs that I like and hit those keys too. But sometimes, it just doesn’t work. Whether you’re feeling down, having a writer’s block, sometimes it takes quite an effort to continue blogging. And I really admire those people who managed to stay in this platform for so many years. This isn’t always rainbows and butterflies, and you know what? That’s okay.
Blogging isn’t just writing something that comes out of your mind naturally anyway. Sometimes, you need to get inspired. You need to stay motivated. And for other people, that’s hard to maintain. People get tired, get busy, but if a few years from now, you (you who’s reading this) and I are still here teaching each other with the things we write about, I’d say we both did well and we deserve it.

Other People May Not Support You

Who here has very supportive family and friends because of their blog? That’s great! You’re lucky that you have those people who understand your passion, but an unpopular opinion about blogging is that people tend to think that blogging isn’t anything serious. Sometimes your friends and families won’t support you because they think that what you’re doing is just a hobby, something to kill your time.
I have some family members who do that too. But heck, do they stop us from writing? If they think that what we’re doing is just tattletale, then they’re missing their chance to learn something from us. You have to remember this, whatever you write about, I’m sure there’s always something that people learn from it. So keep writing!

Our Words Are Powerful

I’ve read so many blogs on WordPress since I started blogging and everyday I still get astounded by how people write and what they write about. It’s true, blogging helps you express your thoughts, like you’ve never told anyone else before. Here, we see how people really think and share their thoughts to their readers. I’m not much of a talkative person, just when I’m around friends, but even my friends haven’t really known how my thoughts go around. This is what we all contribute to WordPress. We each have power over our words and we share them to others.

No One Really Reads Content But Blogging Taught Me To Do So

I remember talking to my sister asking why she doesn’t even click on my blog to read some of my posts and she says, “I’m not much of a reader”. And I totally get it. Some people love to read, and others don’t. I understand that nowadays, people really don’t read much content. They browse through Facebook for pretty pictures, for memes, but when they see some long posts, they scroll right away. And yes, it’s because sometimes, well, it’s just too long! But blogging made me realize that an effort to take time reading gives you something worth knowing.
Blogging didn’t just teach me to improve my writing. It also taught me to read and acknowledge what other people have to say. You have seen maybe dozens of posts about mental health and how to manage it but when you see a post about it again, you click it anyway! Because you know that there might be something you still haven’t known about mental health. And you look forward to learning from it.

If You Love What You’re Doing It Makes You Happy

This is probably the most valuable learning that I got from blogging. It’s true that if you really love what you’re doing, you wouldn’t be stressed about it, you wouldn’t wake up and think, “Aww, man I’m going to blog again!”. Nope. Honestly,  I love what I’m doing. I even took around 50 classes just so I can share a lot about what I write about. Would you believe that I was all excited for it too? I can’t even go to school without saying, “Aww, man. It’s Monday again!” Half kidding, I love school too, but do you get what I’m saying?
If you love what you’re doing, no one can stop you from doing it. This is what passion feels like. Even if you get tired, you take a break. You’ll just end up missing it. And when you come back, it feels good. Blogging made me feel good. This is just one of the few things I can safely say I’m really passionate about. And I hope you feel the same way too.
Thank you so much for reading this post- we loved writing it so we really hope you enjoy reading it! I want to thank Elle for really helping to make this collaboration a reality and for being such an awesome person to work with. 
Let us know in the comments what you’ve learnt from blogging and how it’s helped you in your life. 
Elle’s links:
Facebook: facebook.com//Unpopularblogs0429 
Twitter:  twitter.com/Unpopularblogs 
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.ph/unpopularopinions_/

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