Blogtember 8: Discuss ways that blogging or social media has changed you.

To start off - I don't do much shopping on Etsy, which is why you don't have a post from me for yesterday. I felt like pretending I'd bought stuff would have been awful!

It's no secret that social media as a whole has changed the way that we do things in our day-to-day lives. With Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, it seems like there should be no way for us to have secrets from the world. Of course, at the same time, the oversharing drives me absolutely up a wall. As for me, though, I think it's changed me - it has made me more comfortable with sharing parts of my life I otherwise wouldn't have. It's fun to be able to post a picture on Instagram of one of my cats, or just something silly I'm doing, and have other people like it and comment on it. It's also great to be able to promote my brands (both my blog and handmade business) via an outlet like Facebook. I'm not one of those people who just sits on Facebook for hours at a time - in fact, I barely use it to communicate! It's just a good timewaster for when I have a few minutes.

As for blogging, for a long time, I always just read blogs and loved reading the stories of other people's lives. It was a bit of a double edged sword, since I've been a writer for a long time and figured there would be no reason why I couldn't do it, except for how I felt about myself and how I compared myself to others. Now, though, I've gotten comfortable enough to toss caution to the wind and just write again, which is something I haven't been able to do for years and something I can definitely thank blogging for. And I always thought it would be really difficult for me to think of new things to write, and things like that - but every once and awhile, a great idea just pops into my head and I run with it! That's one thing I love about blogging, and one thing I definitely wouldn't change.
 

Women Connect: The Types of Blogger I’m Not

   

I’ve had a particular idea for a blog post in the back of my mind for awhile now, and it comes to the forefront now and again, when I don’t expect it. When I read about From Mrs. to Mama’s Women Connect writing project last night, I thought it would be the perfect time to put my thoughts together.

When I started my blog, now almost two years ago, I looked at a lot of the other, bigger blogs for inspiration. I saw a lot of beautiful photos, perfect outfits, perfect families and perfect lives. While I knew that it was very far from the person I was, I decided to throw my hat in the ring and try my hand at this whole blogging thing, my way. What they don’t tell you is how frustrating it can be. To look at all of these beautiful things, and then at your own life and your own home, knowing that that will never be you, is frustrating. Looking at your own blog every day, seeing the number of followers is the same as it ever has been and being excited to hit a hundred views in a day, is a little bit frustrating because you know that it could be so much better, if you could only figure out how to be as popular as everyone else. 

It all seems easy – write about your life, post photos of your home, your outfits every day, everything. But it isn’t. Sometimes, it is so difficult to come up with a good post idea that hasn’t been done a hundred times before. I have always been someone who plays life close to the chest – I don’t reveal much of anything to anybody unless they ask. I’m working on it, though. I’m not a person who puts a whole lot of weight on what I wear every day, so I haven’t ever made an outfit post and may not ever. That and my clothes don’t really matter to me. It’s just clothes, nothing else. So when I wear the same jeans two or three days in a row, the same boots every day in a week, and tops I have either thrifted or have had for five years, it doesn’t seem exciting enough to post. 

So, to be honest, I am still trying to figure out where I fit in the blogosphere. I read something kind of funny the other day on Hipstercrite, relating to ‘throwing her hands up and becoming a fashion blogger’. And I totally understand where she’s coming from! Every ‘fashion blog’ I have ever seen is just that. Photos of random girls in outfits with a tagline saying where all their clothes are from and how much they cost. Perfectly made up, perfectly put together. It isn’t hard to do, I’m sure; it just feels a little bit contrived. 

When I sit and think of all of the bloggers I’m not, the list is fairly short. 

I am not a fashion blogger.

I do not have a perfect home. 

I do not have a perfect husband or children. I’m not sure I even want children.

And I don’t feel like everyone else.

I’m not blindingly happy every day of my life, and I don’t think I ever will be. 

All I can do is live the best life I can, and write it as I see fit. Imperfections included.

Attempting to create the greatest life I can.

After reading Danielle’s post about nothing, I felt inspired to write one of my own.

I feel like I’m at a bit of a strange impasse in my life. A fork in the road. I am feeling the most extreme pull that I ever have – one that tells me that I need to make a choice, and soon. A choice to either continue down the road I’m on, working but dreaming of a life without a job, truly making my own way in this wide world.

As far as dreams go, I have been dreaming excessively in the past few years of a life without the necessity of a 40-hour a week paycheck, creating my own life and making my own way from the ground up. My dream job is one that involves a whole lot of crafting, writing, and being able to use my mind and talents to make a great life. Not punching a clock and letting someone else write my history for me.

That’s a big reason why I started this blog – I love writing. Since I haven’t been published in magazines in a couple of years, I needed an outlet to get out my thoughts, ideas, and to put these crazy thoughts of mine down somewhere. I do everything that I can to lead an honest life, and I hope that it translates into my blog, as well. That’s why I want to increase my number of posts, as well – I want to gain readers, and have that feeling of community I feel that I lack on occasion.

Since I was a kid, I’ve always felt like a bit of an outcast. I’ve always had strange anxieties about dealing with people, like I’m always being made fun of, or at the very least, that I’m not part of the crowd. I want to build a group of friends from all over the place! And every day, with every post, I hope to continue to build on what I already have.  

I just want to have a life that I can feel good about. That I can be proud of. Not that I am not proud of myself at this point, but I feel like I could do, and can be, so much more than I am.

It’s so funny to think that this post was supposed to be something about nothing, but in reality living my best life is one of the biggest things on my mind every day.

Have you ever felt this way? Like you were meant for more? What are you doing about it?

How I Blog: Blog Calendar

Since I've been looking for a way to get motivated to blog more, I decided to take a cue from Kaylah at The Dainty Squid and pick up a calendar to plan out my blog posts, as well as some small Post-Its to move around prospective posts. Last night, I put it together and planned an entire months' worth of posts! I am already incredibly motivated to keep myself to a post per day.

I am a bit of a stickler for a good planner, it took a few trips to different shops to find the perfect one. I went to both Target and OfficeMax, and it took a second Target trip to finally find what I was looking for.

I wanted a planner with calendar squares large enough for Post-It notes, and as an added bonus this one has cute tabs for the months as well as weekly pages, so I can use them for brainstorming! The extra space is great.

Overall, this particular project cost me around $10-12, depending on how much the planner you choose is. With all of the new things going on here at An Epic Liz, I figured now was as good a time as any to get organized!

Epic Service Announcement: New Blog Changes

In the time I've tried to be more serious about blogging, I've come to realize a couple of things: I've been sticking to doing about two different posts, and that's it (those being my Book Club Mondays and How To Tuesdays). That isn't all that I want out of this blog, however, so I came up with some great new ideas that I'm very excited to share with you!

First off, I'm going to continue to do Book Club Mondays every Monday, but am going to take a break from How To Tuesdays every week, and instead going to do them every two. In the meantime, I'm bringing in a new bi-weekly post called How I Blog - filled with motivation and my own ideas to stay motivated, and hopefully help someone else!

Besides all that, I'm bringing back Get Pretty posts of various makeup looks, and also Get Pretty Reviews, where I review some of my new (and old) favorites!

Among all of those new things, there are still others that I want to keep secret. According to my calendar, there will be a post every day for the entire post of July, and I'm going to do everything that I can to stick to that plan!

Un-blog related, but I'm also planning to do something really special with that novel I wrote a couple of years ago... stay tuned for more!

'Like' An Epic Liz on Facebook!

Big things are happening at An Epic Liz, and by that I mean I'm nearing my 3,000th page view, and most of this week I have seen over 100 visitors a day! For all of that, and for my 12 followers, I just want to say thank you. Thank you for taking the time out of your day to check out my little corner of the internet and read about my life.

Because of this, I decided to start up a little ol' Facebook page (mostly to save my friends who aren't interested in my blog the headache of seeing my posts all the time)! You can find that at...

http://www.facebook.com/anepicliz!

As always, if you aren't yet a follower, please feel free to click that little 'Follow' button for either Google Reader or Bloglovin!

I'll be back tomorrow with more fun posts for the weekend!