2018; the year on the blog.

Hey. Remember me? No? Yeah, about that… 

I’ve hit a slump with blogging recently; my mind’s been packed with all sorts in the past few months, and unfortunately some of my passions have kinda… fizzled. I found my creativity was a little low after a lot of work stuff and general practical adulting started to take up more of my time – how on earth do most of you bloggers do it!? I struggled so much, and admire y’all all the more for balancing full time jobs with your side hustles, wowee – and my lovely corner of the internet was left dark and deserted. 

Well, here comes the cliché bit: I’m kicking things into a higher gear in the new year. (Yes, I am. If I write it down, it will be so!) 2019 already has a lot of exciting things booked in, but something I am desperate to do is have a low-key ‘relaunch’ (ughh), get my groove back, and then some.

But before we can stride into the new year, we must briefly glance back at what’s been. 2018 was a ridiculous one, to be honest, and I would definitely edit a few specific parts, but on the whole it’s been the best in a series of… ermm… ‘colourful’ years. I’ll be sure to post soon about the personal sh*t, but what’s about to follow here is simply a break down of the past 12 months on this blog. Cool? Cool. 

I’ve written 123 blog posts this year. The first was a big one; my first ever piece written for Huffington Post Life, 'I am more than my scars'. I wrote this after the loveliest email appeared in my inbox requesting some words from me while I was still adventuring in Australia. (Here’s the post on their site, if you wanna see me lookin’ all legit.) 

(Photo: Sophie Mayanne)

I was writing the last of my Aussie trip posts in January.  I’d also just had my heart broken head messed with by yet another f*ckboy with nice tatts, which of course led to me writing about ‘exes’ (yep, the quotation marks there are deliberate). I wrote the 34 in my Facts series, posted a book review/collab with a fave author, then another book review/collab with an author who was new to me. 

While I was in Australia, I’d done an interview with the utter babes who run the Better Words podcast about books and body confidence, and I decided to write up a load of my body lovin’ tips. 

(Photo: Erin Veness)

In February I wrote about the cancer hospital I’d been in, for The Olive Fox (RIP, gorgeous foxes). I wrote the first Recent Reads 2018 instalment… and then the second, not long after. I saw and reviewed The Ferryman, and Dreamgirls, in London. I fangirled over Newton Faulkner (again) and visited Oxford for the first time (to see the aforementioned) which led me into attempted travel blogging (still working on that). I also blogged about being a blogger – whoa, how meta. 

In early March, I got pissed off, and wrote what I think is one of my best ever posts – about being stable, angry and proud. Then because I was on a roll with the tough topics, apparently, I wrote about gaining weight back after my two emergency bowel surgeries last year. 

(Photo: Erin Veness)

Then things got a little more fun with number 35 in my Facts series, a feminist fiction Q&A with a brilliant author, and a review of a hilarious play at my local theatre. My last post in March was about getting all my hair buzzed off – and how amazing it felt. 

23 out of 2018’s 123 posts were published in April. Wow, past me, calm down!? 
It started with me opening up a bit more about my fibs on Instagram, reviewing two very different books, sharing some of my pet peeves and/or hates, and then sharing some more ‘blog wisdom’ following my second time lecturing at my alma mater. 

(Photo: Erin Veness)

I then wrote a tiny piece about an interaction with a stranger, and it got a lot of love. I shared something about my super talented friends’ art/writing project the day I saw the exhibit at Lush HQ, then collaborated with the one and only Katherine Woodfine (and the kids at the Shakespeare Junior School). I dug out another piece from The Olive Fox archive, sharing tips on getting tattooed, and my brain got busy. I blogged about one of my favourite high street shops, and my body (in)securities. I reviewed Circus Abyssina, Bat Out of Hell and Chicago! 

(Photo: Erin Veness)

May was a great month for #content on this blog – and saw some of my favourite photos ever of me appear in my posts! I collaborated with a cool brand, dated myself (not for the first time), shared some personal tidbits, wondered if I was vain, made plans for my funeral, and told people what NOT to say to those of us living with cancer. I wrote about a beginning, and an end. 

June was a funny one. I came off the Pill, wondered what my ‘type’ was, got angry about prideful parents, found myself working with i-D on a video about Behind the Scars, and had a lot of bookish news that apparently warranted one mega post – and there have been no more like it since, oops.  

In July, I went to the Greenwich Book Festival (10/10, wanna go in 2019, please!) saw Kinky Boots and read a lot of books on holiday. I shared some things friends have taught me over the years, and admitted to self-loving hard when I’m drunk. I then got sad about my memory being sh*t, and wondered what I was doing with my life in the run up to my 25^th birthday. 

My birthday month of August kicked off with a trip to see Club Swizzle! I then delved deep again and wondered what self care really means, shared my passion for keeping my life balanced, and revealed one of my biggest fears: rejection. I read and watched ‘To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before’, and changed my Instagram theme. I also accidentally became an underwear model, and gave a few tips on flying. What a varied month that was…  

(Photo: Auch Creative)

  

I finally got round to writing about my summer trip to Barcelona, in September. I also wrote up my book event with the body confidence queens Michelle and Chidera, from bed while recovering from a lil cosmetic surgery. I had yet another personal crisis, and wondered if I was doing post-grad life right. I shared tips on being a Fresher, and gave bookish friends places to go for perfect gifts. I wrote about having an uneven face, and revealed an exclusive extract from the BBC Young Writers’ Award! Phew.  

(Photo: Erin Veness)

October saw me writing a classic bookish post about the few books I’ll always keep, and a review of Lush’s publication ‘Dear John: the Road to Pelindaba’. I was so excited to write and share something super creative for the first time in a while: ‘Summoning Her’. I also wrote about cheating, which was obvs inspired by the Seann/Katya scandal on SCD. I let everyone know what I’d been up to in recovery (because I knew you’d be dying to know), and shared the 39^th in my Facts series. Bish bash bosh. 

I went vegan in February this year, but didn’t properly announce it or explain the reasons behind my decision until November. I also wondered why gigs can suck, and shared a hefty Recent Reads post. Errmmm, and that was it!? 

 

Oh god, and December was light on the content, too. I only wrote about three fabulous reads, one review of an RSC show, a little something about Christmas time hot takes, and the 40^th Facts. 

I think we can all agree my creativity fluctuated intensely this year; I was hot and heavy throughout spring and summer, understandably it then dipped in autumn, but by winter I was truly spent and burnt out. I’m not gonna be too hard on myself, after all, this year has been yet another in a series of mad ones and it’s no wonder my creative energy was zapped to bits by the end of it. Quite a few of my fellow bloggers and creatives have felt the same, and are all in the process of picking up their pieces and getting them in order for what might just be the best year yet…

Let’s just agree to all try a bit harder in 2019, shall we? I have a very good feeling about it, y’know. 

(Photo: Erin Veness)

 

(Btw, here’s last year’s post like this.)