This is a great question. This isn't my first time, (don't let that get around, it is a small town). I initially started to blog as a means of letting my friends and family know what was going on. Fresh out of a long relationship, a move, a career change, 40 lbs overweight and struggling with depression. My near and dear were concerned about my well being, and rightly so, on a daily basis. I started to blog so we all could rest easy that I was alive, and unwell, but struggling thru. I needed to shed the 40 lbs that had crept up on me the year before my breakup. It was a weight loss blog, like reality T.V. but it was really real. Not a scripted real. The blogging became therapeutic, a means of release, an honest dump. I knew there was 8-10 people who would regularly check my blog, but when my expected traffic more than tripled, and then doubled again. I began getting comments from strangers identifying with my struggles, being inspired or comforted in some way by my stories, referring other people to read, I became more motivated and inspired myself, (my readership was never huge, but far more than I had envisioned).
Living alone for the first time in years, my little apartment was lonely, I would pack up my mac and put on a slouchy toque (not really, I don't own a slouchy toque yet, I may have missed the window on wearing one of those and being hip, in fact the window is probably closed on anything about me being hip) and head down to Starbucks. I would watch people, drink sugar filled, whipped cream covered coffees, chat with the staff, or random strangers, write, cry. 2 or 3 times a week you could find me on the patio, typing thru tears and talking to my computer like a crazy person. Not sure it's comforting but often I wasn't the only person downtown talking to myself. Making the switch to Paleo, killed my Starbucks habit, turns out without the sugar and cream, I'm not really a fan of coffee.
I blog because it's rewarding for me. I blog so other people know they are not alone dealing with: weight loss, self image, lifestyle changes, breakups, dating, thyroid dysfunction, hormone imbalances, auto immune disorders, depression, and the regular ups and downs of daily life. I blog about my adventures to encourage myself, and others, because a sense of community and solidarity is enriching for all. I blog because sometimes sharing a horrible experience and finding the humor in tragedy is the only way to cope.
More about me:
Holley's Food/Cooking Influences
