Why I Became A Blogger | Life Stories

It really doesn't seem that long ago that I was slogging away in a full time office job and wishing that life would one day be quite different. I remember laying in bed with my boyfriend (*now husband) and having one of those dreamy sleepy chats where you just imagine what life would be like if you didn't have to get up at the crack of dawn every day to go to do a job that you didn't really like. I never felt as though I had enough time to do anything that I really wanted to do and instead I was stuck in that oh so familiar rat race of simply living for the weekends and then dreading the inevitable return of Monday morning. 

I can't really say that I ever had any grand ambitions to work for myself because I had never seen myself as a business woman and there wasn't anything I was hugely passionate enough about doing to see myself ever leaving the stability of my job to pursue. As luck should have it I have kind of fallen into the work that I do now but the initial circumstances for that weren't particularly great... 

Following a prolonged period of stress in my life I found myself having an emotional breakdown at the age of 30 which left me as a shadow of my former self. Riddled with anxiety and depression I was no longer able to go to work and perform the daily tasks that had once kept me so busy and, well, stressed. After a period of being off work sick and a couple of failed attempts of returning back to work, I soon found myself reaching for the main things I have always loved doing - taking photographs and writing. Soon enough this led to me to creating my blog and learning that this could actually be a career. 

It's a funny old world and weird how things happen... I am actually a firm believer in that everything does happen for a reason and, even though I couldn't see it at the time, becoming ill and being forced to re-evaluate my life actually led me to a really good place. I was back to being creative and finding pleasure and satisfaction in the things I really enjoyed before working took over my life. I actually studied media and photography at university but soon gave up any hope of finding a job in that sector when I realised how tough the competition was. It never occurred to me that I could have my own little multimedia business of my own. 

So lets wind the clock forward to now. I've been doing this for about three years and it's only really been in the past year or so that I have really allowed myself to feel proud of what I do.  I don't mean to big myself up or anything but when I look at all of the jobs I single handedly carry out to manage my work, it really is quite impressive! Not only do I write all of my own content, I take and edit all of the photographs, I've become a pro at social media marketing and I've even started making videos which is something I never thought I would do. I handle all of the admin, responding to emails etc, and attending events that I am invited to. But best of all I get to do exactly what I want to do on a daily basis! 

I absolutely love the flexibility that comes with being a blogger, or as I like to refer to myself these days - a Digital Content Creator. It sounds kind of more important than a blogger right!? And it's a shame that the job title of a 'Blogger' is so undermined by other people so often. People rarely take into account all of the elements and work that goes into running a website and blogging is so often seen as just a hobby and insignificant. Anyway, to be able to work when I want and to have the freedom to do other things alongside work is a dream come true. 

Yes there are certain things I miss about my previous full time job. I got to work with some amazing people and the office banter was always entertaining! I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss the social aspect of work and the friendships I made back then. I also definitely had more of a work / home life divide back then whereas everything kind of moulds into one now. I'll often be scheduling tweets whilst I'm out and about and replying to emails whenever I can. Luckily some of it is work I can do on the go but that does start to blur the lines sometimes and it can be difficult to completely switch off from it all.  

I think it's worthwhile me saying that I don't think I would have ever ventured into this new career path had it not been for getting ill and having a lot of time on my hands. I also don't think it would have been possible to be where I am today without the support of my husband - both emotionally and financially. Its taken a long time to build a following and start to be offered paid work opportunities and that's not something that has just happened over night. Fortunately for me I was in the position to be able to be out of paid work for a while which meant that I could really make some headway with my blog. I really admire the people who manage all of their blog work alongside a full time job because that really does take some commitment and dedication.  

So would I change anything now? ... No. Not at all. The only thing I maybe would consider changing and something which I am currently looking to change is hopefully venturing into using some kind of creative co working space once or twice a week so I get more of that all important social interaction. Aside from that, I absolutely love what I do and I could never see myself stepping away from the freedom of freelancing and doing what I am truly passionate about ever again.