alexandra gets emotional on her child's birthday and shares nine things she wish she knew before creating said child aka @twirlingpages The post happy ninth birthday, twirling pages! appeared first on twirling pages.
although i don’t blog at the same capacity as i used to (aka .. i have not blogged since literally this time last year), you can always count on me to write a little letter on Twirling Pages’ birthday. today marks nine years (!!!) since i created my Instagram and blog.
i think about the friends i made when i first started blogging, and many of them are no longer bloggers or internet creatives. while i miss them, i understand that it takes active effort to continue the pursuit of *content creation.* and recently, i thought about why i’m still here and what i wish i knew when i started. so here goes.
01. your love for it will change
from tumblr edits to photography to written work to video editing, the form will change. when i started, i did not think my main platform would be long-form video and youtube. while i enjoyed watching youtubers and dreamed of starting my own channel one day, i really did not think that would be my form of choice. but here we are! your interests change. although i will say: i still do enjoy blogging and it truly holds a special place in my heart.
02. just as the algorithms and applications will change
i believe these are two independent trajectories. when i began my online journey, tumblr was at its peak and blogging was the It thing. it just so happens that my interests aligned with social media trends. but now, tiktok is the star of the show. while i do have a tiktok and love making videos, i almost felt forced by the world of social media to adopt short-form videos. i eventually grew to enjoy it, tolerate it, but it’s not the same as my relationship with youtube, instagram, or blogging.
03. you will try, fail, and try again
speaking of, failure is inevitable! what do i mean by this? i mean i will try a number of side projects within the confines of twirling pages and they will inevitably end or “fail.” (challenges, series, etc) i don’t think an ending is a failure or not meeting your goals is necessarily a failure, but that’s the surface-level thought of it. so yeah, i will fail. i will learn from my mistakes and i will grow and it will shape the kind of person and creator i am. so, i see it as a success.
04. you’ll feel like you “failed” your goals, but learn to create healthier goals
(okay yes this is different than what i meant earlier.) i used to believe i had to post a blog post at least 1-2x/week and an Instagram post every day or else it was over for me. surprise! it’s not the end of the world. sometimes i still feel bad about myself for not doing every single thing i want to do. in an ideal world, i would be able to easily balance creating for instagram, youtube, and blogging (and now tiktok and who knows what else) while simultaneously juggling my other hobbies and hats. but alas, the truth is that i can’t. I’VE FAILED. and that is okay.
even now, as i’m blogging, i’m thinking to myself, “wow, i really enjoy this i want to bring it back and do this every week.” but i am no longer making empty promises. i may be back and i may not.
05. your interests will change
this feels like a no-brainer for any kind of growth because DUH within a span of 9 years your interests will change BUT!! when i was 16, it really felt like books and reading were my end all be all! i was training to do ballet professionally and i never would have thought i’d be where i am now (back in school. for FILM.). but yes, i do not read as much as i used to (but i still read). i like fashion and wellness and crafting more than i thought i would. it’s all part of growing up.
06. you will my life-long friendships
i don’t think i ever anticipated that most of my friends would be derived from the internet. the internet was a scary place back then! but now i know that can be true and untrue.
07. you will work with and befriend some of your favorite brands, authors, and internet humans
i think one of the pinnacle moments of my internet career was working with disneybooks for Alexandra Bracken’s then-newest novel and then becoming friends with her. or maybe not friends friends but like, she knows i exist. which is wild. (if you remember, the darkest minds was my favorite.)
and now, i get to work with brands i admired growing up? they know i exist??? brb crying.
08. this hobby of yours will no longer be seen as odd or unconventional by others
when i first started, my family and friends hardly understood what i was doing. i don’t blame them. people did not use instagram and social media the way i did. i guess for me it was more of a place to express myself and be creative; but for most, it was a place of status updates and food pictures. which is fine and great, but i also felt self-conscious telling anyone in real life about @twirlingpages. it was a weird secret until it was normal and people aspired to be influencers.
09. … in fact, it’ll be something that is a possible job or full-time pursuit
the idea that you could be a full-time creator was absurd to my past self. like i mentioned, there weren’t many of us in the early days. but now i meet so many people who create content for a living. it’s wild! i barely understand and process it myself after all this time.
SIDE NOTE / DISCLAIMER (click me!)
while i say these are things i “wish i knew,” i don’t think i really wish i knew. i say this because i believe lessons like this can only be learned and experienced as opposed to spoken to. like, if you told me all these things as a literal child when i started, i would not have fully processed any of the things you said. but metaphorically looking back, yes i wish i knew these things.
i know i’m being sappy and melodramatic, but… it’s my birthday and i’ll cry if i want to! as much as i want to say i’d still be doing this regardless if 1 person or 1M people follow me, i know i’d be lying. i (probably) would not feel this encouraged or motivated to continue for 9 years if not for your continued support throughout the years. so from the bottom of my heart, thank you!
with love,
alexandra
The post happy ninth birthday, twirling pages! appeared first on twirling pages.