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Yesterday I read a blog post that spoke about one's blogging journey. That is when I remembered that my blogging anniversary was actually the next day. It has been a few years since I blogged regularly, so these milestones were usually missed. Forgotten even. Now, I am giving my space the credit it deserves. As of today, it has been fourteen years since I wrote my first blog post. Can you believe it? I honestly can't. I was twenty-two when I started this space and now at thirty-six, my blog has been a part of my journey through thick and thin. Since the only way I know to talk or write is by being honest and straight-forward, this space has it all. It has seen every phase that I've been in. It has given me a space to say what I want, whenever I want. That is only one of the reasons why I love this space so much.
I started blogging because I was heartbroken. I was more in love with the idea of love than the person and that gave birth to the poetess in me. Until then I had not read or written a single piece of poetry. I guess melancholy does that to you. In Rockstar it was music, for me it was poetry. I'll forever be grateful for the pain I went through back then, though it was self-inflicted in so many ways. I have this space and few hundred poems in my name thanks to that. Since then, this space has seen all my love and life stories and more heartbreaks. That is the thing about having this space. If I ever have to revisit a phase of my life that has faded in my memory, I can find it here.Many bloggers have either deleted their old blogs or individual blog posts as they moved on from a person. Perhaps their current partner wasn't happy with it being out there or they simply did not want a reminder of the past. Funnily enough, I've never felt the need to do any of it. There is not a single post out here that was removed after being published. If I wrote something, I know I wrote it for a reason. It was a part of me and it deserves to be here. The men I've dated, the friends I've had, they are all still here in some post. They were an important part of my life back then and while they have been removed from the pages of my life, they are still here. Today, I can look back at those posts with a smile. They all made me the person and the writer I am today.
Having said that, there obviously are many posts that make me cringe when I read them today. I was so silly, so stupid, so naïve, so brash, so rude, so vengeful back then. Some of my old posts make no sense at all and no matter how much I try, I cannot remember what was going on in my mind back then. Still, I've let them be. These posts add a character to this space and paves a beautiful path to the journey of LOL. I've come so far away from the girl back then and this reflects in my recent posts. If you have followed my journey from the start (Thank you so much!), you'll see the progression of my life and I post after post. Everything I was back then has contributed to everything that I am today.
This space has won multiple awards and has been on the list of the top blogs of the country for many consecutive years until a few years ago when I stopped writing regularly. My space also made it to the top five creative writing blogs in the country. I have received many prizes and made a decent amount of money via this space. While it is a huge motivation, all that is secondary, when it comes to the satisfaction of saying what you want to say.
Unfortunately, not all that I've honestly and openly spoken about has been applause worthy. A bunch of people exist who have made it their life's purpose to dissect every word I write and find it libelous in their heads. People have actually called my folks and my in-laws talking about the stuff I write and demanded an explanation or an apology. The people who have never appreciated a single piece of my writing were suddenly distributing my work all over the place. They have tried to vilify my work here and me as often as they can. I honestly didn't care about the melodrama that came with it. My blog statistics were ramping up, I was getting to work with great brands and I was laughing my way to the bank. I know what I wrote, about whom and why. My conscience is clear and nothing else matters.
In fourteen years, I have made so many wonderful friends thanks to this space. Most of the online friends back then are now my very close offline friends. Blogging is moribund now. The boom in influencer marketing has taken away the charm of genuine writing. Personal and creative writing has been dying a slow death and I'm so glad a bunch of us are doing all we can to keep it alive. Twitter, Facebook or Instagram, none of them can hold a candle to the personal and creative freedom you get when you have a space to write your thoughts and opinions. From its inception, my blog has been known for its raw and unfiltered content. While maturity has polished my writing now, the original feel remains the same. No matter how many years pass, that will never change.
My dear LOL, I love you beyond words can measure. You helped me survive when I was at my lowest. For that, I'll forever be indebted to you.
Congratulations, dear Soumya, for completing 14 years as a blogger and congratulations to LOL, too, for being with you throughout your journey. As I said in my reply to your comment on my post, our blogs have seen us grow, witnessed our transformation and are proud of us for having come so far. I love reading your posts, I love the honesty with which you share your feelings and opinions. Honesty is rare these days. Everyone is trying to show how perfect they are, thanks to social media, where making an impression is all that matters. We hardly know the real person behind the facade! And that's why it feels good reading such truthful personal stories of courage and strength, stories where people show their imperfections boldly. And, that's precisely why I like this space.
ReplyDeleteWishing you many more years of writing such candid and entertaining posts.
Much love!
Thank you for writing that post to get me to this one, Shilpa. Else, I'd never have noticed. Thank you for being a constant reader her and being generous with your comments. Much love to you too.
Delete"Twitter, Facebook or Instagram, none of them can hold a candle to the personal and creative freedom you get when you have a space to write your thoughts and opinions."
ReplyDeleteSo true. There is something so liberating in having a space where you can simply let yourself be. I am also glad there are at least some of us who are continuing to share personal stories on their blogs!
And yes, our personal blogs are living testimonies of how much we have grown and evolved as a person. I had to take my old blog off the radar, but I left it intact for my personal viewing, simply 'coz of the years of archives that I still love to revisit.
Could totally relate with this post... loved going through it!
I'm glad you think so too, Kay. May our tribe grow!
DeleteCongratulations on the 14 years of blogging, Soumya! And I've always admired your honesty and for being unapologetically YOU during this time. It's so true how much our blogs have seen us grow since we started out. And btw, those last two lines sum up exactly how I feel about my blog too! Wishing you more power with your writing and with everything you do, Soumya. You are truly one of a kind!!
ReplyDeleteAwww Esha, thank you so much for this. I'm me and that's the only way I know to be. As this space is a reflection of me, that's how it will be too.
DeleteCongratulations on completing 14 years of blogging, Soumya! Now you've made me curious to check when I started blogging! Like you, my blog is pretty much a reflection of the various phases on my life, of what was important to me, and what I was interested in. And as you so rightly said, no social media platform comes close to the personal and creative freedom from blogging. Wish you many more years of writing and blogging and connecting! May our little tribe of personal bloggers grow once again!
ReplyDeletePlease go check and pay a little tribute to your space when the date comes, it deserves it! May our tribe continue to grow.
DeleteTravelling with your blog for more than a decade calls for celebration. In the age of bloggers of delete their blogs or stop blogging, you have surely got a reason to be proud of.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Geethica.
DeleteI was at Shilpa's blog reading her post on her blogging journey. had someone told me then that I'd make friends with people completely different from me, and keep the friendships going for a decade, I wouldn't have believed them. Sometimes online friendships can offer such solace without the complications that come with meeting people face-to-face. I have always admired and envied your outspoken writings. I hope we keep going for many more years.
ReplyDeleteHer post triggered something inside me, honestly. Hence this. I'm so glad to have met such wonderful women through this space. Today I can't imagine my life without them. Hopefully we all can go on for more decades, together.
DeleteCongratulations on the 14-year milestone. It is not a small feat considering that your page is older than all social media put together. Cheers to more years of writing ahead.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much! Now that you put it that way, it feels really old :)
DeleteCongratulations, Soumya. It's been wonderful knowing you all this while--both our blogs are teenagers now--mine turned 15 this year. Influencer marketing maybe all the rage, but my blog will always have my heart, as will the blogs of all my friends.
ReplyDelete15! Wow! Exactly. This place will always be sacred to me too.
DeleteCongratulations on completing 14 years in this blogging world! Co-incidentally i am reading your post when my blog turned 10 yesterday, so I can feel most of the thoughts you have penned here. Our blogs are our space, our corner, am extension to our being!
ReplyDeleteHappy 10 to your space, Nibha! I'm glad we're still keeping this going.
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