I Let Fear Hold Me Back for Too Long

I have loved writing and photography since I was a kid. Growing up creative writing assignments were my favorite and I was even a finalist in a statewide photography contest in first grade, thank you very much. Blogging became popular when I was in college and I wanted to blog so bad. But I was afraid of what people would think of me. That people from my hometown or college peers would think I was acting like someone I was not. 

It wasn’t until my family fell on hard times that the weight of having something to say became more than the fear of what others thought of me. My old blog was therapeutic for me and something that made me feel good and connected to myself and others. I got to a point where I was pretty much “blogging” in my head at all times but I held back from writing because I felt like it wasn’t good enough to post or no one would care. I became paralyzed by my fear, so I didn’t write. Then I got a job with a big ole NDA and I used that as an excuse not to write because “I can’t write about my day to day anyway”. 

For the past 5 years, I have missed writing and blogging. I have sat by and watched other people launch blogs and I kept telling myself there isn’t room for me. There are already too many bloggers, I missed my chance. I toyed with starting another blog, went through all the trouble of designing a site and then stalled out. I talked myself out of it again and then sat with more “it’s too late” regret. Ugh…. talk about a vicious cycle.

I bought this domain name in May, but here I am at the end of August ready to finally quit making excuses for why I shouldn’t or don’t deserve to do what I want. I have worked really hard to surround myself with people who build me up and don’t laugh at me when I tell them what I want to do. I have stopped putting energy into relationships that don’t make me feel good about myself and started to go out of my way to feed the relationships that do. I listen to “you got this girl” podcasts and filled my Instagram feed with like-minded messages. 

So here I go y’all. I am launching this website that will house my personal blog as well as a section of the site where I can share some of my professional knowledge on all things digital marketing with a focus on social media. I want to help people who use social media as a tool for their business but feel out of place or like they aren’t seeing the results they want. I want to help people understand the little nuances and things they could do differently to elevate themselves and standout. 

I am still, in this very moment fighting the excuses I’ve made in the past. Those feelings are still very real and raw for me, but so is my drive to shoot for the stars and see what happens. Worst-case scenario a few people/peers may snicker behind my back and I have to jump back into the corporate world. But that beats always wondering if I missed out on something great.

Now, without further ado, raise your glass of iced coffee and let’s cheers to taking chances, y’all!