Why I Blog...

As someone who is relatively new to blogging and is still trying to find herself in this whole blogging world, I often get confused in what my purpose is for this blog. There are so many different examples of blogs as well as advice for helping your blog gain popularity.

As I continue to write about different subjects, I struggle to find my true voice. One thing about myself that I've learned is that while I can be confrontational in relationships, I don't usually like to rock the boat. I don't post about my political or religious beliefs here or on Facebook because I don't feel like dealing with the backlash of comments one can get from doing that. On the other hand, I don't want to be just another fitblogger who never discussed anything of any kind of substance. I wonder if my blog should be focused on training, food, travel, or a hodgepodge of it all. I've heard your blog should be focused but I've also heard you should write about your passion... IT'S ALL SO CONFUSING.

So I think my goal for the next couple of months is to find out where I want this thing to go. Maybe what I should do first is remember why I started blogging:

1. I wanted to use this as a tool to track my training for my second half marathon. I wanted to be able to keep a log of what I'm doing so that I can look back later on and see what worked and what didn't. I also wanted this to be a place where my friends and family could keep up with my training as well. It was a tool to help me in my fundraising for the American Cancer Society

2. I read an article about fitness bloggers and women who were writing about unhealthy eating habits. I wanted to be a healthy voice for people who could possibly be struggling with eating disorders whether it be from restricting in some way or from overeating. I myself, have struggled with an unhealthy relationship with food and exercise and I wanted to show that you can be healthy but still enjoy food and life.

Here's what's been holding me back:

To refer to my thoughts from above, I sometimes get nervous about expressing my true thoughts and feelings for fear of the response I'll get. I am born and raised in an area that is not very accepting of being "different". In high school, I was never super popular, I dressed weird and I was interested in things that were not of the norm. I don't think I was weird, I like to consider myself, "worldly" :). But the point of what I'm saying, I've learned that I can't express my true self because other people won't necessarily like it... so just be accommodating, mold yourself into whatever it is that seems to be the norm and stick with that. I'm coming to a point in my life where that just doesn't interest me as much. I am not saying that I'm going to announce my opinion on everything to everyone, but my blog that is my own, that I can do whatever I want with, is going to be my voice, pure and simple. If I feel like writing about the injustice that happens in Rwanda, I'm going to do it. If I want to write about how red onions give me gas, then I'm going to do that too. So, we'll see where this new idea takes me....