Blogging 101 :: Be True To You

In the blogging world, it is so easy to get caught up in what others are doing or writing or saying. Before you even realize what's happened, you're imitating their style, their photos, their writing, even their blog layout. I know all about this - I've been guilty of it in the past. It's good to keep in mind that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery and just because you see a tutorial of how to make a sweet blog header and then you copy, copy, copy (as I have done), doesn't automatically mean that you're trying to become someone else.

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So what am I trying to get at here? Well, let me see if I can clarify...don't loose who you are by trying to be someone else (or someone's blog). You know, the one with 10,000 followers, who gets 50 bazillion comments a day, even when the post is only about a coupon that someone else shared with them. Or there's the start up blog who got more followers in the first 6 seconds than our blogs might get in the lifetime of our blogging careers. It's easy to get discouraged and to wonder what it is that you're missing that is holding you back. I know I've struggled with that - and I've even shared that with you on the blog (and got helpful feedback as well - like Sandy B's suggestion that I talk back to you in the comments).

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Would I like to have a bajillion "followers"? Um, yeah! Would I like to have my blog mentioned by "big-time" bloggers? Well, who wouldn't? But more than that, I don't want to waste my time (and yours) trying to be someone else or to write like someone else or to take pictures like someone else. I want this to be a place where I am free to be me. I never want to get to the point where I'm writing what I think you want to read (or what will bring me more "followers") instead of what God has laid on my heart, or simply about what interests me at the moment.

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Like now. I've been convicted multiple times in the last week of jealousy towards other blogs. Oh yes, the green-eyed monster was roaring up inside of me before I knew what hit me. But instead of wallowing in self-pity or wondering why they get all the blogging breaks, I'm working on being happy for them and learning how to rejoice with their success. Why? Because I would hope they would do the same for me if one day I got the blogging break. I'm not saying that's going to happen, but I know it won't happen if all I do is try to be someone other than me.

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I have really appreciated your kind comments recently, and I honestly try not to let them go to my head (although there might be some slight {happy dancing} that occurs from time to time over a comment). But more than anything, if you blog (or just for life in general), I want to encourage you to be YOU. Don't worry about what other bloggers write, how people decorate their houses, what they eat, what they read, how they dress...you know what I'm talking about. If you get ideas from those blog posts, that's awesome. If they make you stretch outside your comfort zone, even better! But never try to be someone else simply because you think it will make you more popular or gain some new "followers".

This is the blogging lesson I'm re-learning this week. What lessons have you learned as a blogger or in life this week? Care to share? I'd love to hear!