525,600 Minutes

About 525,600 minutes ago (actually closer to 525, 576 because tomorrow is the official day), on a Thursday, I started a blog. I had the idea for it two days before and felt like it was a big decision that would require intensive thought and decision-making. I was planning on letting the idea stew in my brain for a while (a while being longer than two days). But then, that Thursday before math class, I wrote up a little blurb (about an eraser) and made a blog and then it was there. My very first post on my very own blog.

It's probably silly to write a whole entire post about my blog. It seems a little redundant. But it's what I'm doing today.

This is trivial, but when I clicked "create," it was kind of a big moment for me. I was admitting that I like to write, and inviting the world to read what I wrote. It turned my writing thing into more of a real thing. People had never really read my words before, outside of schoolwork and my senior project and letters to pen-pals and text messages, so it was kind of a big jump for me to, on purpose, give people access to my words. They could like them or hate them or not read them, but my words were there for the reading.

Having my words out there for people to potentially read feels kind of like throwing up in front of friends: you can try to control it, but it has to come out, and then you're all just there in that weird moment of limbo and you're waiting to know if they are going to be your friends still or if, now that they've seen the inside of you come out, they're done. And you want to run away but you're still there for some reason. (I speak from experience in this department, having thrown up in front of a bunch of people in the science hall my senior year of high school, but that's a story for another day).

However, unlike throwing up in front of friends, having a blog has been a good experience. I've learned some stuff - 

I've learned about deadlines. When I started my blog, I made rules for myself and one of them was to post once a week. I've done that so far, but it's been hard. It's helped me to prioritize and manage my time productively and effectively.

I've learned about writing for your audience. Some things are appropriate for the internet, and some are just not. I've learned that when blogging, the way to get the most Facebook likes is to post on Thursday mornings, which is incidentally the time that works the best for me to post. So that has helped my vanity. 

I've learned that I need to write. I already knew that I liked to and that it was good for me, but since I've been making myself write once a week, I've noticed how much of a necessity it is for me. It's important for my mental health.

I've learned that I'm really cheesy. I've written a bunch of posts about the inanimate objects in my life, and now I'm writing a post to celebrate a year of that happening. Definitely cheesy.

I've learned how much of the Gospel is engrained into my heart and mind. Sometimes when I'm writing, verses or hymns come out of my fingers without me even trying to get them to come. It's a wonderful thing.

Writing is a major thing that I want to continue to do with the rest of my life. I was afraid that having a blog and letting other people read my words would make me hate writing or show me that I'm actually awful at it. But neither of those things happened. I still like to write (probably more than I did before) and I am an adequate writer. I am proud of myself for throwing my words out there into space for better or for worse. 

So here's to that. 365 days. 525,600 minutes.

Love,
Lauralicious