The photo below best represents my mind right now. At first glance, it kinda resembles a watercolor painting but if you stare at it hard enough, you can start to make out the images within the image but if you stare at it too long, you start to get a little overwhelmed & dizzy and frustrated and just want to give up and move on. This is where I am right now whenever I think about blogging. One of the worst things I ever did was start to learn about the business of blogging. When I say that, I don’t mean researching about SEO, learning basic HTML code so that I can make minor changes here and there to my layout (my new layout is almost done BTW, and I’m really, really happy about it) or even trying to use an editorial calendar so that I can be a little more organized with my postings. All of those are great and are things that I genuinely needed to know. But when I say the business of blogging, I mean, learning about branding, reading about all of these bloggers who reached their tipping point and “made it”, and constantly reading articles about the dos and don’ts of blogging. It’s basically been Blogging 101 on crack everywhere and honestly, I’m tired. Not tired enough to completely stop blogging, but tired enough to realize that I’ve gotten away from the core of who I am and what this blog was suppose to be about. I mean, the aspirations that I have for this blog are the same, but you know how you feel when you’ve had waaaaaaay too much of something good (say chocolate. Yes, you CAN have too much of chocolate), you start to feel a little uneasy? Well, I’ve absorbed too much information on blogging. On one hand, it’s awesome because on occasion I do consulting work so it has helped but on the other it’s fried my brain. Seriously. You ever see a pup walking in circles before they lay down? That’s how I feel sometimes when I log in. I’ve taken in so much “advice” about who/what/when/where/why/how I should blog that it’s hard for me to do ONE blog post because it’s become ingrained in my mind that it has to be perfect so that brands/sponsors/etc. will see my blog as my resume and want to work with me. It’s the FRIGGIN PITS! I used to run home from work to blog but now I put it off because I keep rewriting posts, re-editing pictures, and everything else bc some of the luster left and so I wind up going in a mental circle until I just collapse and nothing gets dones. I HATE IT. I don’t even get the same joy that I use to get when I read some of my favorite blogs. I feel like because it’s turned into such a booming business, the voices have left many bloggers. Yes the photos are pretty and all of the copy is clean, crisp, precise, but everything is so…GENERIC. IT. ALL. LOOKS. THE. SAME. And that is a fear that I’ve always had with my blog. That it would become generic. That in an effort to create content that would be universally appealing, I’d lose the voice that makes me…me. I’ve OD’d on blogging advice, Social Media, hashtags, NON-engagement with other bloggers& brands, and all that jazz. With all that’s been happening over the last few weeks with bloggers/ing (body image & blogging conversation, anyone?) I think it’s become clear that quite a few others are frustrated with the state of blogging (be it our own internal insecurities or outside influence) and that I am not alone with this. So moving forward, I’m starting a detox. I’ve removed a few sights from bookmarks, and I’m going to clean up my timelines on my social media accounts. While I’m not saying there isn’t more that I could learn, I feel like I haven’t learned anything new in a while so it’s best not to consume anymore of it until it’s truly necessary. I’m a natural storyteller (some times better than others, hence this long ramble *cymbal crash*). I give pretty awesome advice when it comes to fashion & styling (this is a FACT that is proven every day at work!) I love makeup. I have fun discovering new brands, dissecting old ones, and doing interviews. Basically, this should be enough. It IS enough. And this will be my focus moving forward. I am thankful for all that I’ve learned but unless you can teach me something new about blogging, you can keep it (but I still want to know about your cute shoes). How do you feel about the business of blogging? Are you over it? Under it? Stuck in the middle of it? Let’s talk. Lana Del Rey for H&M Autumn 2012 Collection Monet Mazur Curates Back to School Collection with OpenSky, Talks Fashion with KP Fusion