2 Years! {Blogging Reflections}
I’m not breaking out the champagne or baking any cakes, but hitting the two year mark on this whole little blogging thing is still worth noting in some small way. A few years ago I decided to come up with a fun name to encompass my passions of food and fitness in order to carve out a small space to share with others. I had been in the fitness field for long enough that I felt confident in sharing simple tips with others, and I had also reached the point in my plant-based cooking that clients and friends were interested in learning more about the meals I was making. With no expectations, and a lot of help from my much more tech-savvy boyfriend Plants to Planks was born.
At the same time that I started my WordPress blog and changed my private Instagram to a public account of the same handle, my boyfriend also encouraged me to start an account on Steemit. It took a week or two, but I relented and decided to see what this whole thing was about. My first post was a similar quick introduction on a platform I knew very little about. Initially I just shared the same content (mostly recipes) on both of my blog sites and focused on creating new recipes and slowly working on my presentation skills. I’ve definitely come a long way from those first posts!
Initially I spent equal time on all social media outlets, but more and more starting gravitating towards Steem. Why? The people! By the time I got to my first year, I had met so many awesome friends all over the globe. Those relationships were the main topic in my first anniversary post. Fast forward another year and that community has grown even more. I am now a proud member of the amazing @steemitbloggers (#powerhousecreatives) group run by @jaynie with @zord189 lending a hand. That brought about the @phctop3 contest that I have so much fun running alongside of @foxyspirit, @cheese4ead and @nickyhavey. My dear friend @lenasveganliving also entrusted me with the hosting of her joyful creation, #fruitsandveggiesmonday which we run through the @vegansofsteemit page. Oh, and I finally jumped on the @naturalmedicine bandwagon recently to take part in the amazing group meditations run by @bewithbreath, but I’m finding so many new talented and passionate people in that group to interact with, as well.
Luckily my boyfriend helped me make a few changes in my website hosting to make it much easier to post straight from my WordPress site on to Steem with @steempress! Though I love my Steem pals, it’s great to be able to expand my reach in a number of ways. Especially now that I have started doing more nutrition events at my work home Excellence in Exercise and would love to continue to grow my brand and business. My biggest goal is to continue to encourage people to live better all around, so the broader my reach the easier it is to achieve that.
This last year also saw another big milestone–self publishing my first cookbook! Totally unexpected, but such a huge confidence boost to see how nicely a book of my own creations can look. Again, big thanks to the boyfriend who designed it all as a holiday gift (you can check out his art site here). He also did all the changes I requested to actually put it out there. Now I would love to start working on another one and in addition to getting this one into digital form.
When I initially started blogging I said I would only continue to do it as long as I enjoyed the process. Well, I’m still having fun and growing in many ways, so I’m sticking with it! I may go longer periods here and there without posting, but that’s usually because I either need a little introvert break or I just don’t have anything that I’m really passionate about sharing at the moment. I would much rather post less, but make sure what I’m posting brings something engaging and/or delicious to the table! Crazy algorithms and hardforks be damned, I’m not going anywhere. 😉
Thank you to all the friends, family, co-workers and supporters in any small way for following me and encouraging me as I have navigated these few years of building up my blogging skills. Every little comment or share continues to light the fire to keep on doing what I’m doing. Many of you inspire me in your own large and small ways, so thank you for that, too. Though the biggest appreciation goes out to my local farmers. Much love to these folks who continue to bring such awesome produce to the farmers market every single week. Without them I might not be quite so inspired, nor would I eat so well!
