1 Year of Blogging - Catheryn Grivna

In early 2016, I was in a job that I absolutely hated. I was not able keep up with the work despite working 80+ hours a week. I would work all weekend and sacrifice my work-outs to try to catch up, but nothing would work. I was so unhappy, extremely unhealthy, and I had no hobbies. My life involved work and *sometimes* sleep. After several months of this and multiple trips to the emergency room due to stress-related illnesses, I decided to quit that job.

Luckily, I was able to take a few weeks off (fun-employment) before starting my next job. I knew I needed this time off to reset and find a hobby that would let me escape work when it got to be too much. Ever since entering the workforce in 2012, I had only focused on work. There was never time for hobbies. After almost 4 years of this, I decided it was time for a change. I knew I couldn’t keep up this behavior forever.

When I was thinking about what my interests were, I thought about everything: photography, travel, cooking, cleaning, organizing, DIY projects, home decor, running, working out, etc.

I really wanted my hobby to involve all of the things that I loved, so I decided to start a blog! I thought this would be a fun way to get to learn new things and showcase different aspects of my life.

I knew NOTHING before starting this blog. Absolutely nothing. After a couple of days of research in a coffee shop, I knew what I needed to do. I came up with a plan and just ran with it. Sure, it wasn’t perfect, but I just wanted to get started.

Honestly, I am shocked that I am still here today writing posts. I tend to give up on hobbies pretty quickly, so the fact that I have stuck with this is pretty surprising! No, I don’t have 250K followers on Instagram, no I don’t have a newsletter, no my photos aren’t always edited perfectly, but it doesn’t matter. I love doing this as a hobby, and it is so different from my actual job. It would be easy to give up and stop writing posts, but it has been fun to connect with the few people who do read my blog.

So, first and foremost, THANK YOU to anyone who does read my blog from time-to-time. It means a lot that someone took a few minutes out of their day to read about my life.

Second – What’s next for me and my blog? Well, you can expect more blog posts from me! I am going to commit to doing at least 2 new posts per week, which is more than what I am doing now. I decided that I wanted to invest a little more time in my blog over the next year because I really do enjoy it.

Lastly, I would love your feedback. I created a very brief survey – linked here. If you wouldn’t mind taking just a few minutes to fill it out, I would be so grateful! I am always looking to make improvements and learn, so any and all feedback is appreciated. Also, if you don’t feel like filling out the survey, you can always leave a comment below or send an e-mail to catheryn.grivna@icloud.com. Don’t be shy – I really do love feedback!

Also, some food for thought: if you are wanting to try something new or start a blog, don’t worry about it being perfect at first! It will evolve naturally over time. Just get started and roll with it! That is my advice to anyone out there that is needing the extra push to get started. Just do it.

Anyways, that’s probably enough talking for now. Did anyone actually make it this far in the post? If so, thanks for hanging with me!

To wrap up, I wanted to share my Top 5 Posts from the Past Year – it is fun to look back and see what everyone loved the most!