Sunday, March 31, 2013

An attitude adjustment

      I am my own worst critic. Always have been. I'm sure a lot of you are the same way. So when I started on my adventure with nail art I knew it was going to be a bumpy ride. Besides not inheriting any of my mothers artistic ability I have little patience when I'm trying to complete something. Not exactly a great base for this hobby. But, I'm also determined and have always been pretty creative. So with this in mind I started sharing my nail art with the world.

      After a year of having my facebook page I'm not exactly where I thought I would be. I don't have thousands of "likes", My photos aren't what I want them to be. Every manicure I think up in my head never transfers to my nails quite right. My cuticles have always given my trouble, I have a hard time filing my nails to exactly the same shape and  length. Its easy to get discouraged, especially with all the nail bloggers out there. I have a hard time not comparing myself to others. I browse through picture upon picture of nail art and begin to question my creativity. And then I add the pressure of running a blog!?! Sometimes I wonder what on earth I was thinking. Thankfully I haven't fallen victim to any drama or childish behavior on my page or blog. I have never had a really negative comment on anything which would probably cause even more doubt in my mind. But the doubt creeps in anyway.

      Anyone reading this have any of the same feelings?? Are you thinking to yourself "that's how I feel"? I know I'm not alone in some of this thinking. There have been times when I've considered deleting my blog. I take a short break from my page and eventually I begin to miss it and remember why I started in the first place.

      Ladies (and gents) lets not be so hard on ourselves. Isn't there enough stuff in this world that makes us question ourselves already? Why do we do this to ourselves? Let's take a moment to remember why we started our blogs and facebook pages in the first place. Id love for you to share your reasons with me.

      Personally I started my page as a place to share my nail art with anyone who cared to view it. I was proud of the things I was able to accomplish. My friends and family don't really understand my hobby and I wanted someone else to see what I could do. No offense to any of my followers or likers but I do this because its something that makes me happy. I wouldn't really have a page or a blog if it wasn't for you but deep down this is for me. Its something that I started out being proud of and I need to get back to that.

       I'm a hobby blogger not a professional one. I may never build a relationship with a cosmetic company or and indie polish maker, although that would be amazing. I need to stop comparing myself to others, My life is over whelming enough on its own I don't need to add the pressure of "keeping up with the Jones's" to it. There will be times that I need to take a step back from my page and blog to catch my breath so to speak and that's ok. This is my passion and I call the shots. I encourage all of you who have ever had a moment of doubt to step back, ask yourself why you do this and try to remember that. Stop trying to be perfect and have fun! It's your blog, it's your facebook page, do what you want! And try to not beat yourself up in the process.

13 comments:

  1. I just started and I feel the same way. This is exactly the reason I had a few posts last December and then I really didn't get started until March because it took me that long to get up the courage. I thought, what if people hate it, what if they make fun of me, my pictures aren't good enough, no one will follow me etc. Over the past month I realized that none of it matters. All that matters is that it brings you joy and you enjoy doing it. :)

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    1. I'm so glad you got over the initial fear and are doing what you love! It's hard to keep that focus and I want people to know that they aren't alone, all of us go through this at some point and that support is out there. Thank you for taking the time to read my post and for your comment. It's nice to see that others can relate to this in the same way.

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  2. anyone who blogs for any decent amount of time can probably tell you they've felt this way. a few of the blogging ladies i am close with and i have these conversations almost weekly. i've found the best way to not get discouraged is to take that time you spend feeling down and turn into positive reasons to improve! when you stop spending time worrying about others, you have more time to worry about you!

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    1. Thats great advice! Thanks for sharing it with me =)

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  3. I started my FB page for that EXACT reason! And for sure I feel like i'm not as good as others and wish I was more creative but I LOVE coming to my page everyday and talking to people that share the same interests(polish..lol) that I do. I find a lot of bloggers are too big to give thanks and that's a huge turn off...i'd rather share my time and comments with people like you...hopefully I never get big enough to where I can't say thank you when someone compliments a mani i've done!! I too wish someday i'd get sent goodies to review...who on earth would turn down free polish that we'd just swatch anyway? lol I have 13 followers on my blog and for sure somedays I feel like why am I doing this..no ones looking but then I remember i'm doing it for me :) I'm also really glad they are way better artists out there...they inspire me! I was told the other day by my Gel nail instructor that she thought "stamping" was a cop-out..not really artistic and this pissed me right off!! After the initial anger passed I started to second guess myself and think maybe she's right..WOW..GROSS!! But it happens..doubt creeps in all the time but all we can do is keep doing things that make us happy and if it seems to please other people while we're doing it...GREAT! Hope you never close up shop <3

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    1. That's a great attitude to have. And you're right, who would turn down free polish? I love that I have found so many people that share this common interest and never want to take it for granted.

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  4. Self-realization is always a lovely and peaceful moment, congrats on yours :) I had my own moment last year, a couple months after I started blogging. When you start these things, you kind of have no clue what you're in for, lol. It's a little bit of a wild ride, especially at the beginning. The interesting thing is that the developmet may not be the thing you thought it'd turn into... It may be entirely different but I promise you, it will be better :) I hope you stick with it because the friends you make and the things you'll learn about yourself are too valuable to be missed out on :) Keep up the good work, girlie :)

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  5. Thank you for this. It may sound stupid but I kinda felt a little teary eyed while reading. I started nail art in October and started my fb page and blog back in Feb. I have already felt overwhelmed several times. I look at other peoples pictures and wonder to myself why I even bothered trying to show my stuff to the world because it doesn't compare to others. Then you see all those post about how some people get free polish from big company's to review and even from indies and you think how do they do that and why cant I. Then I look at some of my pictures that I've posted on my nail page and wonder what could have made this better and why didn't it turn out the way it was supposed to. But like you said in this post, this is your passion. I do this for me and just decide to share with others. This made me remember that I started doing this for me and not for every one else, even though i love to share what I do.I want to thank you again for writing this. You have definitely made me want to keep going.

    P.S
    Sorry this got a little long :)

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    1. Im so glad that I was able to help remeber why you do this. It is easy to get overwhelmed and discouraged. Your comment almost made me a little teary eyed knowing I was able to reach you on this level. I sometimes think I was alone in feeling this way and it's so great to see that Im not. And please keep going! I think we will all enjoy the journey even if it ends someplace differently than we expected.

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  6. I loved this post! It definitely hit's the nail on the head, especially the part where you wrote, "I wouldn't really have a page or a blog if it wasn't for you but deep down this is for me." I try to make sure I remind myself of this everyday. While I very much appreciate my readers, I started this for me and I should just be happy with that. Thank you for the wonderful perspective! Now just have to keep this in mind when those insecurities inevitably creep up again :)

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    1. Im so glad you enjoyed this post! Thank you for your comment and feed back. I really appreciate it.

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    2. Hi, I nominated your blog for the Liebster Blog Award! Check it out :)

      http://frankenfemme.blogspot.com/2013/04/i-have-been-nominated-for-liebster-blog.html

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