Intro: Back to Blogging
I’ve decided to take the plunge and re-launch this website. Previously, this site sat stagnant — a forever work in progress. With intentions of acting as a portfolio site, I wanted to showcase the work I had done in architecture school, but I also wanted to display my other amateur interests. Like everyone and everything in 2020, I grew tired and uninspired. However, 2020 wasn’t an excuse for my website because it was always under construction to begin with. Unsure of what direction I want this personal website to serve now, I want to change things up. I still want to show off some of the work I did, but I also want to do more.
I’m no stranger to the idea of weblogs. I first started a blog and wrote about myself as way back as 2005 on a blogging platform called Xanga. I was lucky enough that I had peers that were using that site too, so at the tender age of 9, I found myself indulging in the freedom and (small) community that came from blogging. At that age, you can imagine the exciting content I was putting out. I was posting recaps about my day at the mall, what I did over the weekend, or doing about me question tags.
Over the winter of 2009/2010, I made my way to Tumblr. It was the perfect platform for myself to be the angsty teenager that I was . While it was less mindless recaps of my daily experiences, I found myself endlessly reblogging cringe fandom posts, pop culture memes of the time, and photos I found “aesthetic.” I unfortunately was a Tumblr girl, which is all satirical at this point. This lasted until some time in college.
I wasn’t looking to blog to become an influencer. I’m still not, but it was something I thought was interesting. My sophomore year of college, I applied to be a content creator at some sort of college-aged lifestyle website. The position involved writing “fun” college-related articles and think pieces for women, a la Odyssey meets Buzzfeed. I nervously did a phone interview in my dorm room and never heard back. Yikes. But the idea of creating shared content was enticing and I realized I always had an interest in how people navigated and shared their thoughts and experiences in a virtual, now commonplace, environment.
While Pinterest is not a blogging platform, it was a visual gateway to other blogs and content creators. I’m still an active Pinterest-er? Pinner? and have been curating my boards since at least 2014. Nothing fancy, just whatever catches my eye. I never realized how many blogs actually existed until I realized the niche communities that existed beyond that of YouTube and Instagram. While my goal is to write for myself, don’t be surprised if I do try to cater to some sort of Pinterest-like audience.
Currently, I am a contributing writer for the website SistersForFi — a financial platform “committed to educating all people through all stages of life how to better manage their money so that they can build a life that positively impacts everyone around them today and tomorrow.” It’s a venture started by my sisters in hopes of continuing or starting the conversation around financial independence. I’m no financial expert by no means, but I’ve been providing my perspective as a 20-something year old navigating “adulthood” in the NYC metro area, as opposed to my sisters who happen to be elder millennials with different lifestyles.
I’m not sure how to proceed, but I’m just going to say that I’m going to post. What about? I guess that’s something for both of us to find out. Blogging, particularly publically, can leave yourself feeling vulnerable and I’m awaiting the impending imposter syndrome that will accompany anything I post. In the end, I hope that someone can find something helpful from my website. If not, at least I have another blog that I can cringe at in 5 years. If you’re here for what I have to say, well thank you and welcome.
- Elaine