My First Blogiversary + Leap Day Post!

 My One-Year Blogiversary

A Daring Leap

"The best journeys answer questions that in the beginning you didn't even think to ask."

~Unknown

One year ago, I started a blog of my own.

Why? Well, I don't actually know... Becoming a blogger was never on the list of things I wanted to do or try in my life. Then two of my real-life best friends (Hailey and McKayla) showed us their blogs (on September 22nd, 2022), and that's how my two sisters (Louise and Yokoshi) and I were introduced to Blogger.

At the time, Yokoshi and I were considering how we'd show our work to the world (Yokoshi's digital art and my photography). Blogger seemed like the best place to start with.

At first, I wasn't sure if I even wanted to commit to a blog of my own since it seemed like a lot of work (which it is if I'm honest). But before I knew it, I was putting together my first blog and my first posts.

I created a profile on February 1st, 2023, and published my first two posts on February 26th, 2023.

Finding a unique post layout was easy, and I'm overall quite content with the presentation of my blog. I have also put together a rather long list of post ideas, which I will continue to work on in the upcoming months. 😊

[My First Blog Design/Layout]

[My Current Blog Design/Layout]

As some of you may remember from my first comments on other blogs, I called myself "Hannah" at first (which is basically one of my middle names: Hanna). My sisters and I pretended to be total strangers, meaning we didn't tell our friends that we had joined Blogger (this was about 4-5 months after they first shared their blogs with us). It was such a nervousciting and entertaining four days before McKayla put all the clues together and figured out who we were. 😄

I later changed my profile name to Hividah, which I created myself. I combined the words "honey" and "vivid" to be the name of my tawny owl OC for a Guardians of Ga'Hoole game my sisters and I played years ago with our best friend Madi (she does not have a blog, by the way).

At some point, I even attempted to start a second blog. I currently don't have it on my profile since I'm still deciding if I should even continue with it... but more on that in a different post. 🌎

As those of you who regularly read my posts will have noticed, I suddenly dropped blogging sometime in September 2023. It turned out to be an unplanned break that all Bloggers take every once in a while. But for me, it was more of a reset. I realized that I was making blogging a chore for myself, something I felt like I had to do. I made myself believe that I had to get a certain post finished by a certain day. But by taking a step back, I could readjust my mindset (as I've been doing with many other aspects of my life). So when I slowly floated back to Blogger in late January 2024, I was able to create blog content and have fun with it. I didn't pressure myself into finishing anything on a certain day. Just whenever it happened. (Okay, so this post is an exception...🙃)

Believe it or not, I was also doubting whether it was worth my time and energy to continue blogging... But then I found the Statistics section and saw that lots of people from all over the world were reading or checking out my blog! That gave me the encouragement I needed to know that it wasn't all "for nothing." I also realized that if I decided to go into some kind of writing career someday, practicing my writing skills through blog posts would benefit me. It's also a great creative outlet for my thoughts on all kinds of things, as well as a way to share some of my short writings (mainly for school). It was also a great place for me to start sharing my photography with the world. I do have Facebook now where I primarily show my pictures (due to having a slightly larger audience), but I'm not linking it here due to wanting to keep my life at least somewhat private... 😉

So, for the last few months, I've been creating and finishing posts at a relaxed rate, getting enough done to post weekly. It's an amazing feeling to have something regular in my life, after not having that for so long. 😅 I cannot guarantee that I will be able to keep this posting schedule going throughout the year, but we shall see. I also do not know if blogging is something I'll continue for many more years. But life is unpredictable. Who knows if my blog will become as successful as Julie Powell's?

But for now, I'm at one year of blogging, and I've already come farther than I initially thought!

My Current Statistics:

Followers: 8 (I'm grateful for every one of you!)

Posts: 18 (+2 scheduled to publish)

Comments: 59

All Time Views: 2,245

Most Popular Post: The Flaming-Hot... Five Reasons Why [Tag] (embarrassingly...)

Least Popular Post: A Thought on Love

Top Locations:

(As of February 29th, 2024)

I also want to acknowledge those who read my blog but don't have a Blogger account. I appreciate your support just as much! That includes two of my best friends, "Tony" and Madi, and my parents. As well as any other readers I do not know in person (or maybe I do know you, but I don't know that you read my blog...). Thank you all for your support and encouragement!

~ * ~

As it is February 29th— Leap Day— I wanted to mention how special that date is, not only because it happens every four years. How often have we wished for more hours in a day to do things? Leap Years give us that extra day, an extra 24 hours. We can use them to either start or finish something. I like to think of Leap Days as being given another chance.

For me, besides resetting and trying again to put my life together, I'm taking that chance to finish and publish the post, since I couldn't manage to do that sooner... 😏

Here's to further blogging, trying new things, and being brave enough to leap out of our comfort zones and put ourselves out there!

🎆✨🎆

Do you have a favourite species of frog?

If you have a blog, what made you decide to start one?

How do/did you spend your Leap Day?

"Success is achieved and maintained by those who try and keep trying." 

~W. Clement Stone