Saturday 5 May 2018

Celebrating 5 years of blogging

5 years of blogging is a cause for celebration but who needs an excuse to find Barbie's pink beach house and pose in a matching pink dress, right? I knew this dream of a house would be the perfect spot for a blog post, and lo and behold it was. This tropical dream of a dress was a gem I found at asos last summer, and the glittery true love rose bag is from Skinnydip London. A celebratory outfit for a celebratory post! Seeing as today marks my blog's 5th birthday, I thought it would be nice to open up about my blogging journey, why I started blogging, what I've learnt, and where I hope to take this blog in the future.....

WHY DID I START BLOGGING? 

I started blogging because I loved fashion but found there wasn't really any way I had of expressing it. At the time I was working in a job that made me miserable as sin. I'd already been writing my novel for three years at this point as an outlet from the unhappiness I felt at work and was doing a make-up course in my spare time, but felt there was something missing. After reading blogs for years I decided to quit the make-up course (which I wasn't really enjoying) and start my own fashion blog instead.

MY BLOGGING JOURNEY 

I'd be lying if I said I was exactly where I wanted to be in the blogging world, but at the same time I've come so far and often don't give myself enough credit for that. I think my biggest set-back is not having enough faith in myself and not putting myself out there for "fear of being turned down" anyone else? At the same time I feel blessed to have made some lifelong friendships via blogging, worked with some exciting brands, partaken in some amazing adventures, and been given a major boost in both confidence and self-esteem due to letting my imagination run wild in starting up my own blog. I love having a platform to be creative, make my dreams realities and the freedom to express myself the way I want. After being chained to many unhappy office jobs in the past where freedom came at a price, blogging is a total breath of fresh air.

One of my biggest fears when I first started shooting outfit photos for the blog was whether I'd find it hard to look through pictures of myself constantly. Surely it would magnetise all my insecurities by about a billion per cent? Strangely enough, I actually found the opposite. I became more used to myself, and in turn it made me feel more "happy" and "settled" with how I looked.

After a bad time in late 2014, I deleted all of my blog photos and Instagram posts. I was at the lowest point I'd ever been and even though I was proud of all my posts, I felt so low that one night I sat down and just deleted everything. It was an awful moment, but now I can look back and see it was a fresh start - for me and for the blog. Not long after, in December 2014, I went to the doctor and was diagnosed with moderate depression and severe anxiety. I was put on the list for counselling and by the time I started going for CBT (July 2015) I'd rebuilt my blog, changed my style and was happily working with brands. I decided that bright, colourful, summery fashion looks were what I wanted to portray and I also started wearing more glittery, sequin, disco pieces. I also started to take blog shoots more seriously and instead of just hitting up the local park, I started to set most of my blog shoots at more colourful locations.

I have to say a massive thank you to Graham for always being my no.1 supporter. For believing in me and when I first spoke about starting a fashion blog. So many of my shoots wouldn't have been possible without him and he's lifted my spirits on numerous occasions when I've been doubting myself or struggling to keep up faith about my blog or book. I count my lucky stars to have such a lovely, supportive boyfriend who has always encouraged me to follow my dreams and believe in myself ❤️

Likewise my mum and dad have also been an amazing support to both me and my blog for which I feel very grateful for. Mum has also been amazing when shooting my fashion blog photos. We always have a lot of fun and she always checks up on my Insta numbers to see how I'm doing and support me. Since I've started covering more self-help topics she's really enjoyed them and has been so encouraging and uplifting. She tells a lot of her friends about my blog which is really kind and I couldn't have done it without her 😍



FUTURE GOALS FOR MY BLOG
After coming out of a bad spell of anxiety last April, I realised I wanted to push myself into talking more about frank, honest topics that aren't discussed nearly enough. I want this blog to be a bit of escapism for anyone going through a tough day, a bit of encouragement for anyone seeking it or just a fun filled place to enjoy a bit of down-time. Whilst my fashion looks will continue to feature on here, I've realised covering self-help topics has been a great outlet for me and I've been really happy to have received such a positive response from readers and friends alike. Future posts will be more focused on being helpful, honest, relatable topics and I'll continue to mix these up with my fashion outfit posts.

In the past year alone I've opened up about my struggle with anxiety,  how a dream opportunity at my favourite magazine turned into a nightmare, fighting health anxiety to attend my first smear test, losing loved ones and how to handle grief, how to shake off a disturbing dream and smashing low self-esteem. I've also posted some empowering, uplifting blog posts such as "confidence tips for fashion bloggers when shooting outfit photos in public", "how to stop saying sorry to judgemental people". 




5 THINGS I WANT TO BLOG ABOUT
  • My anxiety from the beginning 
  • My experience of CBT 
  • My history with health anxiety 
  • When friendships f*ck up 
  • Bullying in the workplace 

5 NEXT STEPS FOR ME & MY BLOG
  • Being braver & posting tougher topics 
  • Starting a future Youtube channel  
  • Travel more + document on soinspo 
  • Shoot more colourful fashion looks 
  • Keep on creating content I love

I want to say thank you so much to everyone who has supported me and shown me so much love and kindness throughout my blogging journey, be it here on this blog, in person or via social media. I hope to continue to keep inspiring you, keep making your days brighter and keep raising this blog and your spirits as high as I can! soinspo is a blog that's here to show you that any dream you have can come true, anything you want is possible and any bad time in your life is just the storm before the rainbow 🌈🌧🌞



🎈

17 comments:

  1. Congratulations girl! I remember when I started doing outfit shots too I was really nervous about how that would affect my mental health. To be honest at the start I found it quite difficult but now I'm pretty much fine, I'm way more used to what I look like!

    Julia // The Sunday Mode

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    1. Aww thank you so much gorgeous girl! 💗🎈 Means so much to me! ✨ It's really great when outfit shots become more natural and get easier over time ☺️ Once you get into the swing of it then it definitely becomes more about having fun 😍

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  2. Congrats on 5 years beautiful!! Your content inspires me constantly, whether it is a fashion or self-help post. You're sunshine in human form. I'm looking forward to reading your future posts.

    p.s. How did you find CBT because I'm being pushed to do it but I'm very nervous.

    -Han, xo | www.safehavenanonymousletters.co.uk

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    1. Thank you so much beautiful babe! That is just so kind of you 🌈🌻 It makes me so happy you feel that way about my content and really means the world to me 🌎✨ Bless you for all your sweet support, it really has uplifted and inspired me so much! 🎈💖

      From my experience I found CBT very helpful, it definitely felt like a weight was lifted off my shoulders and it did help me a lot in the long run. I'd say only go for it if you feel it's right for you, and I'll be writing a full length post on my experience in the near future which I hope helps you ❤️🌞

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  3. Congratulations on all you have achieved so far Sophie! I can't wait to see what the future holds for you and your blog <3 I'm really proud of you for publishing some really helpful and honest posts that touch on difficult subjects. Lots of love! ♥♥♥

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    1. Aww thank you so much sweetest Carly! For everything 💖🎈🎀💫 So many of my posts have been possible because your kind, sweet support has helped me feel encouraged and positive and inspired. Thank you so much for your lovely friendship, it's made me the happiest girl in the world! Thank you to the stars and back for always being there for me, my blog and my book. I'm so grateful we got to meet through blogging! So much love your way beautiful one! 💖💖💖

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  4. Congratulations on 5 years of blogging, Sophie! Your words of gratitude to your boyfriend and mum are so, so lovely and you can absolutely tell you have a close bond with them both :) I love how you're planning to share more self-help posts, they're always so interesting and often relatable babe :) Have a fabulous week!!

    aglassofice.com x

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  5. Congratulations! Your blog is really wonderful and you look fabulous on these pictures!

    jointyicroissanty

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  6. So pretty in pink. Reading through this post and all your blogging goals has made me realise exactly why I love your blog so much. I have the exact same feelings as you when it comes to blogging and I have very similar goals with opening up more about my anxiety. Your posts are amazing and uplifting, I'm so glad that after you deleted everything you returned or I may never have found you :) xx

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  7. Congratulations! I love the pink here and your outfit is amazing Well done on facing all the above and writing nothing like writing from our experiences. I love your blog wishing you all the success babe xoxo Cris
    http://photosbycris.blogspot.com.au/2018/05/kookla-jewellery-giveaway.html

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  8. Congrats on 5 years of blogging Sophie! I love your blog, it's so unique and you really have achieved so much already. I think it's so easy for us bloggers to forget that, but I know with your drive and talent you are going to go on to so much more success in the very near future. Here's to the next 5! x

    Kate Louise Blogs

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  9. 5 YEARS. GO GIRL. congratulations and i am so so proud of you! (ps. we need a chat soon!)

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  10. You've come a long way sweetheart and you can be proud of yourself. Good to read that you're in a good place now. It is all the up from here Sophie. Keep up the good work. You look so sweet and lovely in that happy dress. -And nice scenery!

    https://www.missymayification.co.uk

    https://www.missymayification.co.uk

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  11. Congratulations babe! I can relate to so many of your topics you've written since I started following you. Like you I opened up about my anxiety because I think so many people out their live with it and don't know how common it actually is. Although it may not stem from the same thing it can be a lonely sad experience that stops us from living our lives to the fullest. I also love your fashion posts of course, and so good you are choosing colorful fun locations. I adore that! You are truly fantastic and I encourage to go for it babe, you can do anything. I'm not where I would like to be in the blogging world as well, but at the end of the day I do it for the love of writing, editing, photography. Doing what I love is the best feeling, I know you know that!

    Warm Wishes,
    Tania
    https://inspiremyfancy.com/

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  12. I got no words to describe this outfit!!
    It is jaw dropping <3
    Xo
    Esha
    https://www.thestylease.com/

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