WHAT MY FIRST YEAR OF BLOGGING HAS TAUGHT ME

On February 3, 2019, Living With Kristy Lynn was launched. Since then, we’ve accumulated 170 likes/follows on Facebook, 114 Instagram followers, 85 WordPress readers, and 3,700+ page views from all over the world! It’s not much in the grand scheme of things, but I can’t help but be over the moon about our progress!

Writing this blog has brought me nothing but joy! Well… not nothing. Running a small blog is not an easy task when you have big plans for it. There were times it really put me through the ringer, but I took away lessons that I wouldn’t trade for the world. Lessons I hope we can all benefit from as the blog goes on.

Lesson 1: Diligence

Ever heard the phrase, “Nothing good ever comes easy?”

I’d tried blogging many times before Living With Kristy Lynn. I attempted several other types of blogs and host sites, scrambling to find my niche, my calling. I needed to find something I was so passionate about it could fuel my love of writing forever. And I wanted to find it fast. God, on the other hand, decided I had a few things to experience before He just came out and told me what path to pursue. It was a long and winding road I’m thankful for now, but not so much then.

I transferred schools, dropped out of college, started a new job, and basically overhauled my whole life before discovering the calling I’d prayed for. And once I found it, there was no letting go. No half-hearted attempts. No giving up. And man, it was hard not to give up sometimes. There were a lot of scrapped ideas, rough drafts, wasted dollars, and failed attempts. Each one posing the question, “Is all this really worth it?”

After all that hard work, I’m staring down the barrel of a second chance at college, writing about mental health on a regular basis, and doing what I can to make this world just a little bit brighter. Is my life or this blog perfect? Not even close. It’s a constant work in progress. One I’ll continue to work at joyfully.

Lesson 2: To be vulnerable is to be strong.

The day I decided to stop drinking I came home from work, wept, and sat in front of my computer. I looked over my ~oh-so-positive~ blog and felt like a fraud. My life was miserable. I was drinking my pain away only to wake up to it staring me in the face every morning.

I needed help. I needed more than my journal, more than therapy, more than medication. I needed accountability. I needed you.

Each and every one of you that read my sobriety journey had a hand in keeping me sober. You still do to this day. As I write this I am coming up on 8 months without alcohol and my life, while still flawed, is better than it has ever been.

Whenever people ask me about staying sober, I always credit two things: God and this blog. Publishing such a raw, shameful side of my life was one of the scariest things I’ve ever done, but I don’t regret it for one second. I never expected the amount of love and support I received, not just from my loved ones that read this, but from total strangers. Abstaining from alcohol gave me the opportunity to experience more of humanity’s beauty than I ever could have imagined. The way you all reacted to my openness gave me the courage and the strength to go on telling my story so that one day, you’ll feel strong enough to tell yours, too.

Lesson 3: Be patient, but more importantly, be grateful.

“Blogs take time to grow,” I told myself as I published my first article. An hour or so passed, then a day, then a week. No reads. No likes. Nothing. Alarm bells started going off in my head, “What if no one EVER reads this? What if I put in all this work for NOTHING?”

Of course, it’s not for nothing. It’s for us. For you and for me. Maybe millions of people aren’t reading it (yet), but YOU are. And that’s enough for me.

As my writing matures, I realize more and more just how important it is to appreciate any progress that’s made, even if it’s not within the time frame I hope for. All those worries suddenly turned into, “Hey, you got the site up! Great job! You wrote, edited, and published that article on time AND you used your own pictures! Awesome!” I learned to celebrate the little wins that come with running this blog. Sure, it’s a small site, but it’s OUR site. A place of inspiration, support, and positivity for all.

This blog, while time consuming, brings me more joy than I could ever express. I am a better person because of the experiences we have shared together on this site. My hope is that we continue to grow as people, as a community, and that we can ultimately work together to be the positive change we want to see.

Thank you all for your support, time, and love over this last year. I couldn’t have done it without you. May this next year bring us more growth, more direction, and much more friendship! I love you guys.