Triangle about the reason why I blog

triangle about the reason why I blog
Made in Canva by me

Why do you blog?

Daily Writing Prompt

Picture it (that’s what Sophia from Golden Girls started a story). It was 2013, and I started my 2nd blog on WordPress. I had one before, but I didn’t continue with it. I’ve been signed to WP much longer than I’ve blogged. But I digress. I only posted 5 posts in 2013. My mother had cancer, and she died the same year, so blogging was the last thing on my mind. It wasn’t until 2014 that I began to blog more often. The Daily Post was the reason why I continued. Oh, the Daily Post, those were the days. Zero to Hero challenge was the name of the game at the time. Blogging was and still is a way of sharing thoughts with other people. The triangle of my blogging is fun, learning, and sharing. Those are the biggest reasons why I blog.

When I started writing this blog, the posts did not include images, and I didn’t think many people would find or read the blog. Sometimes, I was frustrated, and I didn’t know if I would continue with it. But I didn’t give up. I thought I would write for myself and simultaneously learn to write in English (in British English spelling). Blogging is about learning; you get better at it when you practise. I started to put images on posts randomly in 2015. Now, there are images on all of my posts. It does look better instead of only text. This is what you learn during the years you blog. Just like in real life, you live and learn.

Blogging is fun and even better when you can share your thoughts. I’m glad people have found my blog. This is my 10 years of regular blogging. The most active traffic to my blog was in 2020. I don’t know why since I have 965 followers, but not very active ones. Maybe I’m losing my touch. The truth is, blogging isn’t the way it used to be. I’m not that into it, but I still will continue with it. I love writing, and I do it as a hobby. Business blogging is different, and this is not one of those. I have read about it online and have been taking free courses. This blog is about my personal opinions and experiences. I’ve written so much English I don’t think I can write a blog in my own languages, Finnish and Swedish. It’s taken a long time to get where I am today in the blog world. I’m glad I didn’t stop blogging. I’ve got lovely comments and likes on my post. I shouldn’t forget why I started blogging in the first place. It wasn’t to get as many followers, comments and likes as possible (even if they are always welcome). It was about having fun writing, learning new things and sharing thoughts. I won’t understand those who “brag” about how many followers they have on social media. It’s not about quantity; it’s about quality. Those “followers” might be bots or glory hunters, not real followers. If you’re only starting out blogging, don’t give up. It takes time to hit it off. Starting a blog is easy, but updating it regularly and keeping the blog ideas rolling is the hardest. Getting followers to your blog might look impossible, but they will come to you with patience. It also depends on your blog and how much you promote it. The most important is that it keeps you motivated to blog. Don’t do it because everybody is; blog because you enjoy it. That’s how I keep blogging. It’s a bonus if someone else shares my views. This was my triangle as to why I blog.

Captivating images

misty
©Mia Salminen

I’m amazed how many great photographers there are in the world. All those captivating images make me feel a little jealous. It’s quite difficult for me to judge my own images. It feels like I’m not as good as I think I am. At least when it comes to making money off it. I thought I would have become a pro but then I realised I didn’t like taking photos that much. I still take them but not as much as before. At least not with my camera. If I took photos for a living, it would take all the fun out of it. It’s much more fun now that I don’t necessarily need to get better. There’s less pressure because I can photograph when I feel like it. A lot of people make it for a living so the competition is hard. Having photography as a hobby is much better because then you don’t need to impress anyone. It feels more relaxing to post them online too.

It’s looking more likely that I would start my own business. I’m studying about that at the moment. I thought about adding photography to my services. But it can cause problems since I don’t have driver’s license and I also don’t photograph portraits. But then again, you don’t really need those things to take photos. There’s a lot of different things to photograph. I was thinking more about taking event photos or photos of people’s workplaces. I don’t know if people want that service from me since my business would be about web design. But at least photography would make me stand out. I don’t even know why I even want to be in the web design business. It’s the same like with photography, the competition. But what else could I do? It’s rather that or a slave of well-fare.

Whatever I do, photography will always be part of me. You learn to look at the world in a different way. I have moments when I see something outside but I don’t have a camera with me. I don’t have a mobile with a good one and the same with my tablet. It’s a bummer but I don’t cry about it. Some situation you just can’t capture. You almost need to take your camera everywhere you go. All these smartphone cameras are only for online photos. I prefer a real camera anyway. I only have Instagram because of the tablet. It takes forever to post anything from it so I don’t do it very often. I can’t stand touch screens. I rather post photos from the computer. It’s easier and a little less irritating.

If any of you would like to see my photos (or maybe you already have) you can see them in the links.

GuruShots
500px
MiaPhotolio

Some of them can be the same but you get a general idea. I’ve had a comment from someone once that they could take photos like mine. Sure, go ahead. It’s so easy, some think. Besides, it’s the thought that counts. So what if anyone could have taken it. Photos don’t need to look perfect. There’s always someone who finds your photos captivating. They don’t even need to be focused. You only need to use your imagination and find the beauty in it. If people only see photos as one than they don’t get the idea of photography at all.