5 Years of Blogging!

5 Years of Blogging

In November Life of Hayley turned 5! Since then I have been struggling on how to properly commemorate this very special occasion. 

Let me start out by saying that I began this blog right after my 20th birthday as a way to document the 25 things I wanted to accomplish before turning 25. At the time I was a sophomore in college and felt incredibly lost about what to do with my life. I felt unaccomplished and lonely. I had started a blog the year before for my freshman English class so the thought of writing had been in my head for some time. My 20th birthday was the perfect starting point for a lifestyle blog.

In the beginning I wrote about whatever I wanted and it was never about the views, likes, or comments. When I studied abroad in London I posted once a week and my blog gained a small following. I really loved the interaction with fellow bloggers and fell in love with the community. My senior year of college I took an internet marketing class that forced me to once again start a new blog. I spent all my time and energy on getting traffic to that blog. My grade was based on the number of followers, likes, and comments. I started to hate blogging when I no longer felt joy in interacting and instead found myself fixated on the stats. After I graduated from college I took almost a full year off of blogging and honestly thought that I would never blog again. 

My current job is what inspired me to open my laptop and start writing. I work in finance so there’s very little creativity in my normal day-to-day activities. I found myself wanting to write again about getting married and life after college. My first post was a challenge to write but after that I got back into the swing of things. 

My life has changed greatly since the day I sat in my dorm room and began writing. Life of Hayley has developed into something that I’m really proud of. This community has supported me during some of the hardest moments of my life and for that I am grateful. I hope 5 years from now I’ll be around to reflect on my 10 years of blogging.

Thanks so much for reading!

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19 thoughts on “5 Years of Blogging!”

  4. Lauren says:
    Reply

    Happy Bloggoversary!!!! I’m so glad you came back, because I love reading your posts.

    I completely understand what you mean by the stats taking the fun out of it. I’ve learned to just be myself, write what I want, and interact where I want and the friends and following will just come. But honestly – like you said – it’s not about all of that, it’s more about belonging and getting your thoughts out there.

    You are awesome!! So glad to have you as a friend. 🙂

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  5. Paul says:
    Reply

    Congratulations on five years!! They just fly by, don’t they? It’s amazing how much we learn about ourselves by blogging and how a group of random strangers can be there when no one else is. Here’s to five more years!

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