Opinion by Melanie Leach
Blogs. Many people have them, but what is the purpose? Over the past few years, I have had the joy of creating my own voice with not just one, but two blogs.
I began my first blog the summer before my senior year after being encouraged by a few of my closest friends to post my thoughts. I thought it was a unique idea, and since I didn’t know of many other people who had something like this, I jumped at the opportunity to show my creative side, write down my feelings and post pictures. I suppose my blog is exactly that, even now, a year-and-a-half later.
This blog has been a great help in storing all of my thoughts, and sharing things that are longer than is socially acceptable via other personal sharing websites. Through this time period, I have been able to see myself grow as a person. Not only that, but I can look back and see what was going on in my life. My blog also links my Twitter and Pinterest accounts, so people can get a true feel for who I am and what I am interested in.
The second blog was made last September as an attempt at a website for my photography, something I can separate out of my personal blog. I wanted to have a place strictly for my professional photographs to be displayed without getting overlooked by wordy posts about my life.
On this blog, you can download my resume, view some of the sessions I have done in the past and get a better feel of who I am. It has been helpful for some of the seniors because they are able to share the website with friends and family in to showcase their best pictures.
Let’s talk about benefits. Some people just have to get their thoughts out. I like to post things on my personal blog that will both help me to be kept accountable and encourage those who read it. I have found that it is also easier to have something online that I can always access from my phone or a computer, no matter where I am.
Over the last few months, I have read a number of blogs by people I have never met, yet, their words have encouraged me, moved me to tears and truly made a difference in my life. I hope someday I will be able to post something that is as influential as the posts I have read. So, although I created my first blog for personal reasons, someday I would love to encourage others through the words I type, the pictures I post and the person I become.
My Advice:
Don’t get discouraged if at first no one reads what you have written. Fame doesn’t always come quickly.
Read other blogs to see the way you want to format your blog. Also, other blogs can help to give you ideas about your life. At the beginning of 2014, I was able to read different blogs to compile a list of goals for the year.
Use the Internet to your advantage. If you want to do something exciting with your blog, find out how. There are lots of tutorials and How-Tos on Youtube as well as other sharing sites. Recently, I learned how to link a downloadable file (for my resume) onto a blog post. Learning how to do different things is so exciting.
Lastly, blog for yourself. Blog because you want to write. It’s much better than writing strictly to be noticed. If you do write to be noticed, write because you think that what you write will benefit others.
Leach is a first-year journalism major and can be reached at melanie.leach@drake.edu
