It’s been 15 years since I launched myself into the world of blogging. And you would think by now, I would have some idea of what I am supposed to be doing. Some nuggets of wisdom to share. A vague whisper of professional knowledge. Nope. Still don’t have any of that. But the big difference now? I’m finally ready to learn and do whatever it takes and make finding my happy place with blogging the real deal.
I had a break
I don’t know what came over me one day but I thought it would be a good idea to head back to work. Get a normal job. Grind that 9 to 5 with the rest of the world. Maybe I was bored? Maybe I was lonely? Whatever the reason was, it doesn’t really matter. My friend owned a shop, she needed someone to work Saturdays, so I went and worked in the shop. It was that simple. But then she needed mid-week days covered. The next thing I realised, my business had been put on the back burner. But I was OK with that. I was still popping up the odd post and working on my books. However, one day I spotted a Facebook post. My former school needed classroom assistants. “I could do that,” I thought to myself. So I applied, got the job, and spent the next three years as a classroom assistant. My business got shoved to the bottom of my to-do list. I was working five days a week, raising my kids, and running a house. I officially had no time to complete any research for my history books. Then, 18 months ago, I decided to put my degree and Masters to use and applied for my PGCE. The plan was to get my last qualification and work three days a week as a teacher, freeing up some time for research and writing. I’ve one more term to complete and I’m a qualified teacher. And yet, here I am. The itch, the need to write lives on. And I think I would like to do it as my full time job again.
The world of blogging has changed
I was never the greatest blogger in the world. I hate doing social media. The technical side of it always confused me. And now it’s even more complicated with AI and bots. Recently, I read about the “Dead Internet Theory”. The theory is that a lot of the internet traffic we see is made up of bots that manipulate algorithms to push certain topics to the top of Google. Great. Plus I have the added bonus of a website that has been neglected for a few years. I decided to run the site through a few checks and – sweet baby Jesus – it is a bloody mess! Missing links, broken links, things that Google says are important only appear in half of the posts. When I announced my arrival back to the world of blogging into my favourite blogger Facebook group, I was warned that the world of blogging had changed; I just didn’t realise how much it had changed. For one thing, when did we get so reliant on social media? Social media is great for sharing content but it shouldn’t be the cornerstone of what you do. Maybe I’ve been in the game for too long and seen too many people have their content wiped out. Literally wiped out. When you post on social media, you don’t own your content. But here, I own everything. The only way it will be wiped out is if I don’t pay my server and hosting bill.
Can we rise from the ashes?
Maybe I’m being a little bit silly thinking that I can rise from the ashes and make my blog my full time income again. But then again, stranger things have happened in the world. Stranger things have happened in my own life over the last 12 months (we won’t go there, that’s an even bigger mess than the inner workings of my website). Or maybe, just maybe, I’m feeling a little bit inspired. This is going to sound crazy but stay with me for a moment. Recently, I deleted most of my social media. Instagram, TikTok, my Facebook business page, the whole lot. The only reason I still have a personal Facebook page is because there are tons of pictures on there and I want to save them first before I delete the page. Anyway…. without TikTok, I had a heap of free time on my hands. And without the tiny screen to scroll and watch things, I had to watch the actual TV in my living room. Which means watching Netflix. Sitting down at the end of the day, putting a movie on, and going to bed when it is over. It’s done wonders for my sleep schedule. And do you know what movie I keep coming back to? Happy Gilmore 2.
You start at the bottom
Happy Gilmore 2 might seem like a strange movie to gain inspiration from. Don’t get me wrong Elle Woods still has a lot to answer for. However, this is a story about a single parent who has lost everything, has anger issues (if you ever followed me on Twitter, you will know I have a potty mouth), and just wants to give his kids a chance to follow their dreams. And holy crap, that hit me right in the feels. I’m not trying to change the world of blogging but I have a love of tradition and owning my content. Shit, I wasn’t even at the top of the blogging game, but I was OK. I made enough money to get by. And now that I am looking at the work that needs to be done, it’s clear that I need to take things from the top. Or, as was quoted in Happy Gilmore 2, the bottom. So here I am, starting at the bottom. Making the changes to my site that need to be made. Getting a schedule in place for the things I want to write about. I’ve even pulled out those old manuscripts to see if there is any gold in there.
Writing is my Happy Place. Here’s to getting my own version of the Gold Jacket.
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