BEING UNIQUE AS A BLOGGER

When I first started blogging, it was for a different reason as to why I blog now. Back then, it was about sharing my favourite nail varnishes and outfit photos just like my friends and other bloggers were. Now, it more of a form of expression for me.
I've always been a writer; for as long as I can remember, I've enjoyed creative writing and anything to do with words. Blogging, for me, was a great way to write in my own style, while still expressing myself.

When it came to 2015 (two years after my blog began), I decided that I, while I wanted to continue expressing myself, I wanted to step up a little bit with my blog and take it out of that ditch that it was stuck in where, the only people that read it were my friends and family and, deep down, they were the only people that I wanted to read it at that moment. The name of my blog was my childhood nickname and it definitely didn't completely settle with me from the start. It was too personal and too much of an 'inside joke' kind of thing. So I remember, one summer's day, sitting on the floor with a huge piece of paper, writing down possible names for my blog. My mum and dad sat beside me, thinking up different names and, eventually, I settled with The Rose Glow. While The Rose Glow remained neutral and not completely attached to me, it still had small personal touches in it - one is that, since a child, my favourite flowers have been roses.

My blog was put on standby for pretty much over a year as I took on things like mental health issues, a new relationship, and exams at college. When I came back to my blog, I was somewhat shocked that while I was gone, there seemed to be an influx of bloggers. And, one thing that did strike me was the way mental health was being openly talked about all over the place.

The blogging world has expanded big time! When I started in 2013, there were nowhere near as many people as there is now. Posts were often extremely original, photos were of you in your back garden with a new hat on, and there was no such thing as a multi-camera iPhone. Marble was off the block, copper still remained on pipes, and only a select amount of people had their own domain. Oh and, back then, in the sweet 'old' days, no one had really heard of algorithm, DA, SEO, or what-not. Everyone was sharing bits about themselves in their own little corners of the internet and it felt so much more mellow than now.

I hate to admit, but the blogging world is tough now. There's a lot of us and, tragically, not an infinite amount of creativity to go around; Blog names are clashing in similarity, individuality is weakening, and unfortunately, heaps of people are swallowed in the sea of tweets and pictures. To me, it's a game of survival of the fittest.

I'm sorry, I really am, but if I see one more post about the Glossier what-ever-it-is range, I might just down a bottle of Vodka. While these posts are brilliant, insightful, and beneficial for your audience and portfolio, they aren't the posts that make us stand out. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not shy of the whole '[Insert Month Name Here] Favourites' or the 'Current Wishlist', because, by gosh - we aren't all creative gods and goddesses with ideas pouring out of our ears and, as I said previously, my blog grew as a platform for expression, and will remain that way.


Here's the thing, when I found my own style and grew up a bit more, I started to feel as though bringing my blog into a balanced level of personal expression wouldn't be so bad after all. I feel it's the best way to separate myself from the repetitive posts and become more individual. I'm inspired by bloggers such as Lily Ashton, Natalie Leanne, Social Spying and more, a bunch of bloggers that seem to have a perfect balance between information/tips/expression and personal touches. Creativity is always in my heart with blogging. It was important for me to establish my own style of photography or 'theme' instead of just pretending to love flat lays (which, by the way, are so difficult to do). I'd rather write posts that are going to catch people's eyes, as opposed to posts that people have read many times before. Understandably, these posts are always different from each other, but they still seem to be less personal and expressive.

At the moment, I'm laying in bed at night and collecting my thoughts. I'm going to let myself sit down and spill my brains out onto the keyboard, I'm going to work at finding my balance between posts that people love to see and posts that I want to write. I will let you know my favourites of the month, and I'll let you know my goals, or my blog strategies, but I will also let you know how I'm feeling. I am going to express myself, like I wanted to from the start, in a way that's comfortable to me.

We're all unique humans for our own qualities and traits but, I do feel that, when it comes to blogging, there's a bit too much 'hopping on a bandwagon'. I'm going to showcase my own traits and qualities in the hopes that I can succeed as not just a unique human, but a unique blogger.

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