Milestone Alert!

I am starting this from a place of literal high; I made the fluffiest pancakes I have ever made in a while, and it feels so good. I am not sure if I could recreate it, though. Something I have learnt to appreciate for is the ability to look back at my journey, to look back at what led me down a certain path. I have learnt to be grateful for whatever catalysed where I am today and I know that most times; the catalyst is never something pleasant. I mean, at the end of 2019 during clinical posting (S1), I had an idea to pursue something I have always loved to do, blogging. Not only that, but I know I can't write about other people, do a lot of movie reviews or write medical articles well, but I know I talk, maybe a bit too much. I am an over-sharer and I share because; I believe it helps people feel seen when someone they know is going through something similar, also a few people say I give wonderful advice and I have a good vibe (this last one depends on who and when).

So starting a blog was on my plan for 2020, and it took me a story that I have shared through most of last year to make me start. You should check out my first post here. I remember typing the first post in the dining room and begging my younger brother to tell me what he thought about it and from the first day of clicking that publish button, I knew I would not want to stop. After putting up the first post, I realized I had no plan of what to do, so I shared bits of what I had written, one of such story is “The Girl With A Thousand Faces” and maybe the first time I referenced being lost, I did a bit of follow up to that in “In Search Of Identity”. One line that found people relating to in that post was, “I don't know who I am, so do not push me out there and force me to put up a show over and over again”. I ended that post with a resolution and a reminder of how far I have come. I think I just got into the game after that. I created a schedule, I started sharing links to my blog on my WhatsApp status and to some people I knew would be interested in reading the blog. 

Welcome Post

One part of my blog that I would have benefitted a bit more from if I took a bit more time before I put it out was the “Moving On: Healing From A Broken Heart” post. I wrote that not from a very clear state of mind and I had to put out another post late in the year to just say, “Hey, I think I goofed a bit and just wrote a lot of theoretical stuff, here is something a bit more personal.” So what did I learn, give it time, nobody expects you to have everything figured out right now.

The most popular post on this blog is “A Quarantined Collection”, where I did a bit of revealing of my creative process and ten outfits I illustrated in the year. The second most popular is a collaboration with a very wonderful friend, Matthew, “Black's Art Challenge”. Black's Art challenge lasted for three episodes, but it was fun, and I hope to have at least one more this year, but I don't have any plan in place for that now. Apart from Matthew, I am grateful to the people that asked me questions and discussion topics to write about; “It's A Culture Thing”, “On Jealousy And Its Appropriateness”, etc. In finding answers to those questions, I have been able to learn a lot more. I also want to thank Ruth Sunday for joining me on the first episode of The Conversation Series. There is more where that came from.

In Search Of Identity

So it has been a year.

Can you believe it? It is so surreal to me in all honesty. 

It is relieving to carve out a space to share what my life looks like now and also what I want it to be at the end of it all. I am grateful for all the experience that became a blog post, all the anger, pain, joy and peace. I think I am feeling myself developing and that is a breakthrough for me. As cliché as it sounds, I am not the person I was last year. I know there are a lot of things for me to do and figure out, but if I look back from my first blog post to this, there is growth. I have pushed myself out there and even though I am taking my time from now on; I refuse to remain stagnant. I just got back from a major break and I have stuff on hold, and it is alright, I believe I can do it with God's help. 

Here is a major milestone. My one-year blogversary. I just want to say a big thank to everyone that has followed me on my journey from the start of the blog to right here. You are the main Gees, and to those that got here along the way and have not turned back, what can I do without you. Thank you for sharing the links, thank you for reading the posts, thank you for your comments and for inspiring me to continue. 

Now to the major announcement I have been building up to.

If you take a moment to click on the sidebar, you see that there are two contributors on this blog. And what that means is, there is a new writer on the blog. I believe building up a team is the next thing to do and sharing this space with someone amazing is an opportunity I am so grateful for. I am so blessed to have Aeon joining me here on the blog, and I am excited to go through her post and just get to know more about the wonderful human that she is. And I know you will be too. So thank you, Aeon, and welcome to my blog, this time as a contributor, not just a reader.

To slightly sad news, there would be no more subscription service to the blog, because Google is shutting down FeedBurner (the subscription service the blog uses) and I am not sure what to do next. I will still stick to putting up links to any new post on my WhatsApp status and share with people (you will still get notifications to a new post the way you have been receiving it), maybe start a personal mailing list to deliver the post directly to your inbox or a monthly newsletter gives you a recap of what was on the blog for the month. I don't know yet, but I will figure it out, eventually.

Thank you. 

Don't forget to check in on my girl, Aeon's post when it drops, and you can always reach us at theestherian@gmail.com.

With love,

The Estherian.