Blogging made me do it! Featuring Megan from Megan Brooke Handmade

As promised, friends, here's the second dose of your triple treat this week. And guess what?...Megan asked me to write my own "Blogging made me do it!" post which you can read over on her blog today.

Megan is one of my newest blogging friends. She left a kind comment one day, I responded and next thing ya know we're swapping posts! Isn't it cool how that happens? She has a desire to inspire and shares some wonderful creations. Megan really tugs at my heartstrings with the post she offered up today...check out her transparency. Love a girl who's willing to be real!

I'm so honored to be apart of Dana's 'Blogging Made Me Do It' series. I started my blog out of a need for another creative outlet. I had opened an Etsy shop {which I've now all but abandoned :/} several months prior to blogging, but was seeking an outlet where I could showcase other projects I was working on and hopefully inspire others to get creative. When I wrote my first blog post a year ago, I didn't really know what to expect. Besides hoping to inspire maybe one or two people, I really was just looking forward to meeting and getting to know other bloggers and other women who had a passion to create. What I didn't expect was how much blogging would push me to grow as a person.

Source: weheartit.com via Good Morning London on Pinterest

Blogging has forced me to put myself out there and to step out of my comfort zone. You see, I'm typically not good at sharing my thoughts and not really one to be all 'look what I did.' And a huge part of blogging is putting your thoughts out in the open for all to see and read and to 'show' people the things you've made or accomplished. Not my strongest suit. I've had to learn to get over the fear of what others will think of what I've said or what I've done and be confident in myself. I can now say I no longer fear the 'publish' button {as much as I used to}.

Source: tumblr.com via Sally on Pinterest

Blogging has also made me push my creativity. In this day and age with tons of diy/decorating blogs and Pinterest, it's easy to come across a million projects you can replicate exactly. Having a blog, you want to come up with fresh & new ideas, not just recycle things that everyone has already seen. So I've had to push myself and challenge myself to take all the inspiring things I've seen and love and create something that is totally my own and that fits me. Now when I'm working on things, I see it through the lens of the blog. How can I make this project more visually appealing, more inspiring, or more unique which in turn has challenged me to push my creativity.

Source: us.fotolog.com via Kymberly on Pinterest

And the biggest thing blogging has made me do is to learn to take risks. As a general rule, I'm not much of a risk taker. Those that know me would probably describe me as a pretty cautious person. That's not to say I'm not a 'go-getter.' Once I set my mind to something, there's no turning it back most of the time. But, usually the things I'm going after are never super risky. But, I'm learning that if you don't take the big leaps, you'll never end up where you want to be. The first big risk I've taken is switching over from Blogger to self-hosting on Wordpress. To some that might not sound like a huge risk. But for someone who is technically challenged, it was. I've had to learn how to read and write html code, how to edit CSS, and learn what name servers are {although I'm still not 100% sure what that means}. And, at any minute there is the risk that I could totally mess up my entire blog and it could disappear or crash and it's totally on me to fix. Ahh! But, I love knowing that I completely own my little blog and it's so much more rewarding when I figure things out on my own {like when I figured out how to fix the padding in my CSS template all by myself!}.

Another risk I've taken is signing up for my first blog conference {Haven} later this month. I'll be a super small fish in a sea of big fish. I've never met any of these women and am terrified that I'm going to be the awkward middle school kid who doesn't fit in with the cool kids. But, I know that I'm going to make great connections and learn so much and feeling a little awkward is a risk I'm willing to take. I'm so glad I decided to start blogging. I've 'met' some incredible people {including Dana} and have learned so much along the way. Blogging is a lot of work, but it's made me into a better person {cheesy I know, but it's true}. Can't wait to see what the next year has in store. Thanks so much Dana for including me in this series!

Aren't you glad Megan shared with us today? Okay, all you lucky souls who will be attending Haven hop on over to meet Megan and keep an eye out for her friendly face at the conference.