Today we have another instalment in the Life of a Blogger Series. Kaarina blogs over here but I’ll let her tell you that story. You can also find Kaarina on Pinterest, on Facebook and many more places in cyberspace- all her links are on her blog! Okay Kaarina, take it away!

On February 7, 2011 I wrote my first blog post.

It was three words long. Or perhaps I should say it was three words short.

But those three words started me on a journey that has now brought me to a brand new chapter in my life.

When I started blogging it was for the sole purpose of eliminating the self-editor in me. I’d been writing for years, but had never shared my written word publicly.

Well, that’s not quite true. I’d written many technical pieces, training manuals, a book on the Olympic sport I’d coached and for which we’d won a gold medal at the 1984 Olympic Games, magazine articles and business and coaching materials. But my fiction and poetry remained in beautiful lined journals, all written longhand, sitting quietly on shelves in my office.

For four years my blogging focused on business coaching tips and information. But near the end of those four years there was an itch I wanted to scratch. I wanted to start sharing my fiction and photography publicly.

That pesky self-editor who constantly worried that the words needed further editing no longer burdened me.

I finally felt free and liberated to share what had been, up until that time, tucked away in those journals…or in my heart and head. I wanted to create new words and works. And it no longer mattered if I had a huge following or was going it “right”: something that the “experts and gurus” wrote about so prolifically in those early years.

Oh yes, I was a student of all that expert advice, gobbling up all that was written about keywords, SEO, follower counts, hyperlinks, do-this-don’t-do-that advice. Those posts consumed my days as I strove to write the “right” way.

But eventually, writing to write finally felt right. I was ready to simply craft stories and share thoughts for the sheer pleasure of doing so. After all, I’d done that quietly and privately for years. But I needed a new vehicle to house the new “me”. My business coaching website would not suffice.

Today, my new website (for which I owe a debt of gratitude to Carol Lynn Rivera) is a true reflection of the journey I’ve undertaken. The site is dedicated to my fiction and photography, and it’s a place where I say:
“If you have landed here, I welcome you, my fellow explorer-wanderer-wayfaring adventuring lover of life!

This place and space was created for you and me to journey together.

To take moments away from our busy lives just to “be”.

To experience new thoughts and new things together.

And then to be inspired to do the things that we often put off doing because we think we don’t have the time, there aren’t enough hours in the day or we get caught in the “I’m too busy” trap.

I’ve got much to share with you. Let the journey begin.

What have you always wanted to do but haven’t yet done, and why?  What can you do today to take a step in the direction of your dreams?  Are you influenced by what the “experts and gurus” recommend, and has that helped or hindered you?