Did you guys know that I started this blog going on 4 years ago in December? That is nuts to me. I remember when I started… I was in college at the time and I was sitting on my bed messing around on the computer while watching Roseanne with my roommate. I was looking at all the images I had saved on my computer of things I liked, loved, wanted, dreamed of… etc. I decided to start a blog so I could share them with others and have a place to go to look at them whenever I felt like it.
As I said, that was three years ago, and three years ago blogging is not what it is today. Nowadays blogging is a very serious business, and everyone wants in (myself included…still). When I first started I just liked sharing an inspiring image here and there, talking about my life a bit, showing off a DIY I planned to try out… and I was happy with that. It was my hobby and I loved to sit and mess around with HTML and edit it to the way I wanted it to look. I honestly don’t even know how many people were reading my blog, or if anyone was for that matter, but I truly didn’t care. It helped me express my creativity and my love for passion, and that was it.
Then, everyone and their mom got a blog and the pressure was on. Mine didn’t look as professional, my pictures weren’t as “pinterest-worthy”, my outfits weren’t as cute, and the list went on and on. So… I stepped up my game, redid my whole site, bought a nice camera, started posting original content, and spending every minute on getting more & more readers.
I worked hard, because honestly… a professional blogger seemed (and still does) like the best job in the whole world. This became all I focused on from here on out. My hard worked paid off and I actually began getting a bit of income and free swag from my blog, which is still something that blows me away. As great as it was, the idea of “success” got to my head.
The other day I caught myself, exhausted, running to the store to get stuff to do a DIY project so I can have a good post for the next week, and I noticed- I am not having very much fun right now. That very second I realized that the thing I loved doing most, blogging, was becoming a chore. I have been thinking a lot about this lately, and I have came to some great conclusions. I don’t want this blog to turn into a love/hate relationship- only love. I want my readers to know more about me, my life, and most importantly… I don’t want to ever portray myself, or my blog, as perfect.
I hate perfect. My hair never looks perfect, my clothes aren’t perfect, my dog is not perfect (although she looks it, she cries for food all day long), my friends aren’t perfect, my love life is far from perfect, my family isn’t perfect, my life just isn’t perfect. And I am 100% okay with that, no one is perfect and frankly, perfect is overrated. Bye bye perfect, see ya never.
Pardon the rant, but I really just want this blog to be a place I go to share what I want… after all, this is MY blog. I am sorry in advance if I post just 1 photo of something I like, if I don’t post a photo at all and just use my words, if I skip a day, if I stop caring about Google Analytics, if I use pictures from iPhone that are not great quality, if I have a spelling error….
Actually, second that, I am not sorry at all.
Let me sum this up for you all. Fashionlushxx is my baby, and I love my baby very very much. I do not in the least intend to neglect this blog- this is not what this is all about- I just want this blog to reflect me as a real person. Easy enough? I also have to say thank you to all my amazing readers who have continued to stick by my side the last 3 years, read my posts, and have given me great feedback! You guys have no idea how much you light up my life and make all my hard work worth while.
Now that I got all of that off my chest, I feel SO much better. Ditch perfect, it feels pretty damn good.
— E
(source, source, source, source, source, source)
What a fantastic post! I stumbled across your blog via a random diy google search but after reading this will definitely come back. It’s hard to balance the idea of what a successful blog is on a personal level when so many are so publicly successful. I bounce between the notion that my blog is a personal outlet, a means to chronicle my life for not only myself but friends and the idea that I should be working on it as a business. Trying to gain advertisers and readers. Overall I just need to keep on enjoying the time and effort I put into it, I think that’s the most important.
Thank you so much for the kind words! I really appreciate that and agree- it’s hard to balance owning a blog as a creative outlet versus as a business- but I think if you love what you are doing, it will flourish!
i follow several blogs and check them weekly–yours is my fav! you’re real and downtoearth and that comes out in all your posts. LOVE your diy’s and love this rant. FUCK perfect!
Thank you so much for the love <3 <3 <3 You have no idea what it means to me :) Fuckkkk perfect!!
this blog just became my favorite! :) thank you!
aww thanks! that made my day :) xx
I found you on a FB wall as I was taking a break from my studies (I think I’m seriously allergic to grammer & punctuation) …. Well, that was yesterday around 10 am. It is now almost 1:30 the next day, and I have been cumpulsively clicking the “NEWER” tab that whole time (with the exception of a l’ll sleepy time) All that just to say I have always had a hard time balancing the issues of Hobby vs. Job …. so I give away the things I cherish more often than not. Please don’t stop “giving away” what you love, here in your Blog. Stay cool and sparkle on!
awww thank you so much for your kind words! It’s my readers like you that keep me pushing on and doing what I love!!