Today I am bringing back an older post that was first done in 2015 and has been updated. The dentist this week hasn’t been good and I’ve spent the last few days in a lot of pain. I did go back and hopefully, everything will be better now. It looks like I’m in for a root canal. Oh well, it happens. I’ve been very lucky with my teeth and haven’t really had to have a lot a work done. So I went through lots of posts and thought about this one.
I wondered if my reasons had changed. Some things have, and some haven’t. Let me know what you think.
Why I Blog
from February, 2015
I wrote my first blog post on WordPress, in September 2010, however, it wasn’t my first blog. I originally started in January 2010 on Blogspot, First One.
I started a blog for a couple of reasons, one was because I was photographing cycling and trying to sell the photos. A guy who worked with my husband suggested that I start a blog, that people liked blogs. Well, it never helped with the cycling, but then it had a second effect. Suddenly I wanted to post, I wanted to share my photos, and over time I realised that the photos I was taking for the posts were changing.
I changed to WordPress in September because I liked the stats better. WP had much better stats, and still do. You could really get an idea of what people were looking at, it 
was good. Then I started meeting people, I started making friends. I have met some amazing people virtually, I love seeing what they do. It has been such an incredible experience.
I really came to WP and blogging with the intention of using it to help me produce work. In September 2010 I was trying to do lots of things, art wise that is, painting, printmaking, drawing and taking photos. I thought having the blog would make me do work for it, but it really didn’t work out that way. Within a year of starting this blog, I made the decision to give everything else up and concentrate on photography, I have never regretted that decision.
Then in November 2011, I decided to challenge myself to see if I could do a post every day and post a photo each for the month of November, and since that time I have done a post nearly every day since. With the exception of the odd one here I still post every day. It works for me.
Posting each day makes me go out and take photos. Being a relatively lazy person, going out to take photos can be hard, so with the threat of a blog and the need for photos, I have taken far more photos than I would have otherwise. I have found the blog a fantastic incentive to take photos.
Conclusion
The blog has meant I have met people who I would never have met otherwise. It drives me to get out and take photos to show people. It has been an incredibly positive experience for me.
My blog in 2016
October 2016
I have left WordPress.com and moved to a self-hosted site, that would have to be the biggest change. Part of the reason for that was so I would have more control over what happens. I can charge money for advertising if I choose and don’t have to worry about WP shutting me down.
Another reason was because so many people were confused between the two sites and many thought it would be better if I just had one, and I have to say, it has been much better. It is easier for people to find me, but also only doing one blog is much better to manage. It has taken a while to find my feet here, but it is slowly getting there.
Why do I still blog, well the answer is simple, I love it, and I love the people I have got to meet through it. From blogging I have been given some amazing opportunities. I have met some wonderful people who are now friends.
Blogging still remains a worthwhile activity for me. It still helps me to get out and take photos. I just hope that you still find what I have to say interesting and enjoy my photography.
The blog in 2023
Not much has really changed. I still love it and this coming week I will be meeting up with a friend who is coming to Australia. We met when I was in the US and now she is coming to my part of the world. Anne and I meet through our blogs. You can check out Anne’s blog, Slow Shutter Speed here.
I don’t blog every day anymore. I did enjoy it, and I found it easy to do. However, it was suggested that I shouldn’t do it, and so I stopped. I really lost my way with it after that. I have a schedule now and that is really working for me.
I have to admit that one reason for blogging that I did hope for would be success in the business side of it all. That didn’t happen. I have spoken about this a few times and I have said I will do a blog post about it at some point. That will be coming soon.
One of the main reasons for me for blogging is to share my photography. There doesn’t seem much point taking all these photos and not having anyone to show them to. Now that I don’t have the business anymore, I still enjoy doing this.
I like getting a lend of gear and trying it out. Sometimes I end up buying it, and other times I have to give it back. That hasn’t been too bad.
Really at the end of the day, the blog still helps me to go and take photos. That can mean trips away, either for the day or for a few days. It can also mean just going out into my garden and seeing what is out there that is worth photographing.
Blogging, after 13 years, still brings me a great deal of joy.
Do you blog and if yes, why do you blog?
NB: photos are from the first couple of years of blogging, nice to look back.
Do you blog and if yes, why do you blog? Yes I do. I too started blogging in 2014 at blogspot but stopped for some time. Now I’m back as a newbie in wordpress. Reading your post inspired me to continue blogging. Please visit, like and comment to my posts. Thanks.
Thank you for sharing your story, WordPress is great and there is a wonderful community here.
So happy to hear that. Thanks
😀
I started blogging on Blogger in 2014 and it was all about writing fan fiction. One of my friends suggested that I have great ideas so I need to start writing as well and this way I found my new passion. I’ve studied literature for 5 years and now I’ve founded 5th public blog here on WP this time with reviews and it’s just an official writer’s website with a store and blog actually that I hope will help me to grow my career of a writer. So, what 9 years of blogging mean to me? I think it made me two I am today… Also, I was suggested to write posts everyday while I used to blog once a week. I think it’s fun and something new right now and let’s see where it will lead me…
Sounds like many of us started on Blogger. Love your reasons for doing it, sounds really good.I wish you all the best of luck with it Allysa, I hope you find a lot of success.
Thank you very much 💖
😁🥰
Like you, I started blogging in 2010 – food blogging. It came about through my love for creative cooking, wanting to share recipes, and my newfound interest in photography (which by the way was terrible looking back, but you have to start somewhere, and it’s good to go back and see the progress over the years).
2 years later I bought my first (used) DSLR and started a photo blog, then another, and finally kind of merged the two into a 3rd one, closing down the two old ones.
Through the years I became more interested in photo blogging, both for the photo blog as well as the food blog; it seems to me that people aren’t really that interested in recipes and/or stories about them and just pop by to look at the food pics. I kept going though, because – like you – I loved blogging, the whole process of writing a post was exciting. For the past 2 or 3 years though, I feel like people aren’t really interested in blogs anymore. They seem to prefer “fast media” like Instagram etc. Because of this I couldn’t really find the energy to create food posts anymore.
I do still love photo blogging though, and I have made a few friends through it in other countries whom I actually met in real life.
You have been on quite the blogging journey Kiki. I have started feeling the same way about blogs, but then again, I think more people are turning away from FB and IG than blogs. Videos can be good, but they have their downsides as well. Maybe we are all just wanting to be quite now.
I think if you love doing it, then you should do it, even if it is just for you. The friends aspect has been wonderful. Thank you for sharing your journey with us.
I’m only at the very start of my blogging journey, after my wife suggested I post some of my writing. It’s only been a couple of months but I’m very much enjoying it. The comradery in the writing community and across WP in general has been fantastic.
How exciting. What you describe about WordPress are the reasons I love it. It is an amazing community to belong to. I’m sure you are going to love it.
You are so passionate Leanne! And a fabulous photographer .. I haven’t posted in ages (shame) and like you I enjoy sharing photos and writing! Hopefully there is one coming up very soon!
Thank you Julie. Passionate sounds so much better than obsessed. lol Yeah, I almost went the same way with posting, but I am making myself post 4 times a week. Not always easy and from time to time I don’t want to, but I know if go that way I will give up. I look forward to one coming soon. Maybe you can commit to doing one at least once a month. Though blogging isn’t what it was 10 years ago.
I think once a month sounds great! Thanks for the encouragement 😊
That’s great Julie, and you’re welcome, I can’t wait to see the next one. 😍
Hope you feel better. I have been have trouble also, TMJ. With that siad I am glad you do blog, I love your work. I have been blogging since 2014, and am on a 900+ day posting streak! Like you, I also am disappointed that it really hasn’t help me sell my ebooks or prints. But it has helped me produced alot of poems, photos, and art works that people like. So who knows? Best wishes. Phil
I am feeling much better, and the tooth is not giving me any trouble now. Thank you, that is good to hear that you like what I do. Well done on your posting streak, that is amazing. Sadly I think only a very few people find that sort of success. I like that about blogging too, it makes you go out and do work. Best wishes to you too and thank you for sharing.
It was interesting to hear about your evolution as a blogger. I am glad I have found your site and can enjoy your photos. I originally started posting photos on a site that the suddenly disappeared. A friend who writes about neuroscience suggested “WordPress” and I simply fell into it. I am pretty well new to this experience but have enjoyed the creative experience of combining photos and stories, reliving past experience, and logging new ones …. and even adding a few of my songs. I believe (as mention in one of my songs) that you have to see the world with “miracle eyes” for we are surrounded by beauty and wonder wherever we are. I guess I try to show that in what I post. Why? Perhaps to celebrate my good fortune for seeing these things and to be able give this idea some kind of structured form. And again, if it weren’t for the blog, I wouldn’t have been able to appreciate your photos…. or be writing these words now. Thank you Leanne!
Sounds like you are going to be having a lot of fun. I love your reasons for blogging, it is so interesting how we all do it for different reasons, but also similar ones. Thank you for sharing why you blog.
I stopped by for the picture of the pier which was very beautiful and then I saw that morning haze picture of the bridge and that was amazing. thanks for sharing.
i admire it when people can have the multidimensional online presence that blogging can give. sure you have facebook and – to some degree – twitter but there’s a more organic feeling when its a page you can make, a unique url, and a menu system that allows others to explore your body of work. your page is what I’d certainly call a body of work moreso than just a portfolio; to do this for years is an art in and of itself.
i’ve always wanted to blog but never really had the chance, motivation or reason to do it until I moved away from Florida late last year. where I am now is a temporary (but really nice) stop until I figure out which general location/direction I want to take in my life (coincidentally, Sydney/Melbourne is a hypothetical future home for me…Perth too, but I’m not sure about that). I know that I have to be in a mental state where I’m collecting information and processing it towards a final conclusion as I don’t want to stay at my present location for more than 2 years. By blogging at the frequency I do (hopefully, I keep doing this), I am engaging with each day and can find patterns about myself and how I like to spend my free time outside of my work. My thought is that this will tell me where to be for my future and I can wrap up the entire blog when I leave.
However, it’s been nice finding out that connections can be made here with other bloggers in a sense that I don’t get with Twitter or when I’m on a video game network.That may influence me in the future to set up a more stable, long term blog wherein I don’t necessarily blog every day but I still blog and I share my interests and photos.
Thank you.
That is a good way of putting it.
That is really interesting, so is the blog lots about those thoughts?
Oh yes, many of us have made many connections through our blogs. I’ve met many people from around the world, which has been brilliant.
A lot of nice pics! I love photographing, writing and coding (web-development), so a blog/website is a perfect platform for me. I understand some (many?) have ditched a blog and just posting on social media, but for me, social media cannot replace a blog. 😅
That is interesting, I don’t know that I have heard of anyone else with similar reasons. I agree, I don’t feel like I can do as much on social media as I can here. Thank you Joey.
Thanks for sharing your blog years ago
I really love seeing all of your images and words. ThanksAnita.
You’re welcome Anita. That is fantastic, thank you.
Your photography is amazing and truly has changed some over time. Keep blogging!
Thank you Robert, I’m glad it has changed and it does seem to be doing that again now. I’m sure I will keep blogging.
I blog when there is something banging around in my head that might cause a stroke if I did not work it up and share it.
No schedule, no fixed topics. Inspiration is capricious.
Interesting reason, does it help you?
I know many blogs that are like that. Thank you for sharing your reasons.
I blog to share my travels (and photos) with friends and family. And, now I realize, to help me remember where I’ve been and the things that I’ve seen along the way. I’m debating about downloading a copy so that when I get old(er) and forget more, I can still leaf through my posts and remember that sunset or the person I met in that place.
Oh yes, remembering stuff is a great idea. I have looked back on trips and it is great. It is like a personal journey then as well.
I don’t know about downloading, could be a good idea. Thank you for sharing.
Hope you are feeling better. Tooth pain is the worst!
I started blogging as a digital journal of sorts with pictures. We travel a lot and I need to document my photos and thoughts about our trips. And when not traveling… my blog has turned into our weekly lifestyle in photos. I am in the same thought process as you… I take so many pictures, why not share them.
I have also met so many wonderful people through blogging.
And bottom line… I enjoy it! I blog once a week and am consistent. When time allows I hope to add another weekly blog post… but for now once a week works for me.
My tooth is feeling beter, thank you Nancy.
That sounds like a great reason to blog I love it. Same with meeting people. I spent today with someone I met through the blog.
I think you have to do what you are comfortable with and it sounds fantastic. Thank you for sharing it with us Nancy.
As you know I do blog. Two reasons (1) as an expat i use it to stay in contact with friends and family in the old country. (2) I hope to share an old man’s journey into the unknown. And as a PS: my ego enjoys sharing my exploration of our garden. I use Blogger. com because it works for me and unlike WP it’s not constantly trying to sell me ‘stuff’. Brian https://brianwaddington.blogspot.com/
Great reasons for blogging Brian. I love being able to keep in contact, though non of my friends or family really look at it, but many of the friends, like you, that I have made around the world do, so I love that. I don’t know what you mean about WP constantly trying to sell you stuff. I’ve never experienced that. I self host here so there are never ads on my blog.
Thank you for sharing Brian.
I started blogging WAY back in the dim dark past on GeoCities (which became Yahoo). That closed down. They I used some other service. It closed too. Finally, I landed on WordPress. It worked. I got a lot of response very quickly.
My original reason for blogging wasn’t writing. It was photography. You said it exactly right. What’s the point in taking all these pictures and no one sees them except me and Garry? The wall are full of photos, but also full of paintings and a few photographs I actually bought at galleries. What isn’t taken up with art is full of awards — Garry’s. My kind of writing didn’t win awards, but it paid decently.
I still post daily, though with more than 13,000 posts over the past nearly 12 years, I recycle a lot of them. I figure if I don’t remember them, probably neither does anyone else. And I still take pictures. Not as many as I did because the size of my hard drive and even of my back up drives is screaming “SLOW DOWN.” Especially with pictures that are the same as many other pictures I’ve taken, I try not to take hundred of shots of the same thing at slightly different angles, though I still overshoot. It’s too easy to take ten shots when three will do nicely.
I often wish I could stop, but I feel that this is the last place where I have some kind of potential influence in this insane world. Whether or not anyone reads it? Maybe they do, maybe not, but at least I still have a bully pulpit. That’s gotta be worth something.
Wow, I think I have ever heard of GeoCites. WordPress is great, I love the way it enables you to connect to others.
My walls are full of my artwork, paintings and photos, and some work by others. I do like being able to share it on my blog too.
Recycling posts is a great thing to do. Sometimes you just want to say it again. I still take heaps, my husband Dave just got me some storage so I should be good for many years to come now. I overshoot too, but I promised Dave that before I sent photos to the backup I would go through them and delete the ones I know I will never use. I’m trying to get better at that.
This world is becoming very insane. Sometimes I think I like to stay home because I can stay away from the madness that the world is becoming. I love that, your bully pulpit. I just hope WordPress don’t become like YouTube and other platforms where you have to be very careful about what you say. That is crazy. I mean yeah, if it is hate speak then get rid of it, but all the woke crap is driving me nuts, that is when I can work out what woke actually means.
Thank you Marilyn, love the reasons you blog, keep it going, we need more like you.
Hi Leanne, I blog to share my photos too and to write about the incredible places we sail to. It started as a way to keep our friends up to date with our unusual life, and a kind of diary for ourselves. But now http://www.sv-Anui.com has morphed into a cruising reference for yachties as well.
Hi Chris. I love the places you visit, all places I will probably never see. That is great to hear what your blog has morphed into. So sharing it with like minded people as well. Thank you for sharing.
Sorry to hear about your tooth issues. That sort of pain is certainly no fun. I hope your dentist can sort it out soon. My reasons for blogging are similar to yours. It is good to be able to share with people who have similar interests. To be inspired and to inspire others. Now I sell my patterns, I do sometimes use it a bit as advertising but the main reason is to connect with others.
Thank you RJ, the pain is better, I went back yesterday and she has managed to stop the pain, so that is good news, almost feel normal again now.
Exactly sharing with like-minded people is so good. That is great that you are able to sell your patterns, I wish you luck with it. Nothing wrong with advertising yourself, but I love the connecting with people. I think that has been one of the best things.
Yes, I do blog, although not as consistently as I should.
I’m semi-retired now so I do it more to share my thoughts and images rather than to solicit paid business (although that would be nice too). I also link my blog to my Facebook page so I don’t have to re-write or re-post things.
I don’t know that there is an ideal number of how many we should do, whatever works for you I think.
Oh yes, getting paid, is an interesting idea. Though I find I enjoy now because I”m not looking for that. I do the same with Facebook, though I never really use that platform anymore. Thank you for sharing all this Ceci.
oh you and I are blogging with similar reasons.! thanks for sharing I started my blog in 2008 and switched to WordPress in 2015 and love it!
You’re very welcome Donna, you have been blogging for a long time. Isn’t WordPress wonderful? Thank you.
I’m glad that you started this blog, Leanne, it has been a pleasure following you for how many years now. I enjoy blogging because I enjoy sharing my amateur photography with others and have made many wonderful friends including you! ❤️ I’ve had a root canal and they are not good but you’ll get through this, Leanne. 👍🏻
Thank you John, that is probably one of the best reasons. I love the friends I’ve made, such as yourself. I am happy to get the root canal if it means the tooth stops hurting. I just don’t want to lose the tooth, I’ve had way too many pulled out in the past.
Thank you so much, Leanne! I’ve had two root cannals and now have three crowns and a bridge!
Wow that is a lot, this will be my first. I’m a bit nervous.
Two too many! They will numb the you know what out of your mouth for the procedure. If you feel the slightest pain, do not hesitate to ask for more numbing injections. You can do this, Leanne! ☺️
I’m not afraid to say you are hurting me, so I think I will be fine. Thanks John.