While I was walking home from work yesterday, I started thinking about the phenomenon of blogging. There are so many blogs that I love to follow – spanning topics from food to fashion to healthy living – and reading these posts can become a truly immersive experience. I often get sucked into a thread of articles and find myself interested not only in the recipes or clothes featured but in the personal life of the author, too. It can be fun to hear about their friends, families, and fun weekend activities. This glimpse into the everyday activities of other women, especially those that I admire, can be inspiring. It even offers a sense of friendship and community.
But I also feel that in this world of blogging, there comes an expectation of expertise. Most blog posts that I read project a tone of confidence and authority over the subject matter, and always seem to imply that the author knows exactly what she’s talking about. Although my favorite food blogger might not be a professional chef, she still knows every step required to make the perfect trendy avocado toasts. Likewise, it seems that every outfit put together by the many fashion bloggers of the world is meticulously curated down to the specific accessories and a perfect nail polish color to match.
To be honest, I find this level of perfection a little intimidating. I begin to expect this same type of expertise from myself. When I consider the topics about which I’d like to write, I feel this pressure to be an authority over each and every theme. But the truth is, oftentimes I really don’t even feel like I exactly know what I’m talking about. It seems that as a blogger, I should be offering the solutions to life’s problems (be they big or small). But recently, it seems that my life is filled with more questions than answers.
I’d like to write about developing healthy habits, balancing work and social life, making and keeping great friends, and generally conquering the world. However, I often find myself struggling in many of these areas myself. I’m trying to answer tough questions about my career path and figure out the difficult prospect of making new friends, all while eating healthy and keeping up a fitness routine. More days than not, a few of these aspects of my life slip out of place, their spots filled instead with stress or anxiety. I have so many questions. Where should I be devoting my time? How can I be a good friend? How do I figure out what I’m supposed to be doing with my life?
But instead of letting unknowns like these hinder our progress, let’s try to focus on what we do know, instead. For me, that means devoting more of my time to cooking – my ultimate hobby – and with that, continuing to post more recipes here on the blog, too. I’m trying to overcome the fear that my photography isn’t quite as professional as I’d like it to be – I am just starting out, after all! I want to give up on the idea of perfection, and know that I can figure things out as they come along. And I try to remember that even though it seems like every other blogger knows exactly what they’re doing, they’re on this same journey, too! We’re all navigating through life together, and the worst thing we can do is to let intimidation keep us from pursuing our passions.
Glitter & Grace 