Have you ever been so nervous or terrified to start something new that you go down a rabbit hole and then completely scare yourself off? That is exactly what I did. For the last few years, I have thought about blogging, and every time, I got scared off—either by all of the information out there or by my own insecurities about my spelling, grammar, and my ability to write.
Talking about the rabbit hole… when you first get the idea that you would like to write a blog, what do you do first? You go to Google or your preferred search engine. By the way, it’s just like when you type in your symptoms and it always comes back saying you’re dying. I’m literally shaking my head while typing this.
I digress. You type it into any search engine and you get post upon post, site upon site, book upon book. You get the picture. Then you start reading them, and while they all say basically the same thing, they’re all a little different, so now you are more confused than ever. But you know what none of them really talk about? How scary it is. How stressful it is. How much does it cost? And if they do mention it, hardly any of them talk about how long it took them to figure it all out.
So, if you’re like me, you decide it’s too much and you just don’t do it. Then the idea comes back a few months or years later, and down the rabbit hole you go again. Except this time there are even more posts, more sites, more books. On and on and on it goes.
Oh, and even better, once you get past all the “how to,” “what you need,” and this whole niche thing… By the way, I’m not dogging niches. If you have one, you’re amazing, and I’m probably reading your posts or trying to cook your recipe, try your style hacks, or going to get the book you have recommended. I just don’t have a niche that I fit in, which was another reason I got scared off. I would not consider myself an expert in any one thing—life, yes; experience, sure—but a niche that I can do a blog around? Nope.
Then you find out that a “good” post is about 1,500 to 2,000 words. Again—that scared me off. I’m more of a get-to-the-point type of person, and 1,500–2,000 words is a lot for someone like me. So, I dropped the idea again. I told myself I couldn’t do this, that I wouldn’t be able to meet what’s “needed.”
More time passes, the idea comes back, and down the rabbit hole I go once more… except this time, I didn’t get scared off. Well, obviously, since you’re reading the proof. This time the rabbit hole wasn’t so much Alice in Wonderland, falling down a rabbit hole; it felt more like when Alice finds her way. It felt right. It felt doable.
Am I still scared? Yes. Do I feel like my posts will ever get to the wonderful level of 1,500 to 2,000 words? I really hope not, because that is terrifying.
And here’s the part I didn’t mention earlier: the idea of people knowing who I am—how do I stay anonymous? That was another big reason I kept backing away. Putting my thoughts out there is its own kind of terrifying. No one really talks about all the feelings you have when starting something new later in life. Is this something I should do? How much time will this take from everything else I’m responsible for? Will people even care? Is blogging still a thing nowadays? And the big one—what is the cost of starting something new?
I’ve never thought of myself as a writer, but I’ve always thought it would be wonderful to try. Where am I going with this very first blog post? Well, if you’ve always wanted to do something, try something, change something—do it. I will say it helps that I have an amazing support system and someone who will occasionally post as well, but I’m telling you: no matter your age, you can do this.
Sometimes the best thing you can do is leap, jump in, dive headfirst. (I hate to swim, so these analogies are sort of wrong for me, but you get the point.) Sometimes the time just has to be right, or you just have to be old enough, brave enough, or crazy enough to say ______ it. I’ll let you fill in the blank.
I’ll share more commentary as my process goes along—how I started, why I chose what I did for my blog, and all of that—but I think I’ll let those pieces come out when the time feels right.
