Two Lessons in Two Years

June 23rd marked the two year anniversary of Polyliteramore. What began as an innocent hobby has now become my pride and joy. I look forward to writing every week, and even though it was difficult to continue throughout my first year of college, this blog kept me thinking about my place in this world when I was overwhelmed, excited, frustrated, and homesick. Throughout these past two years, I have learned countless lessons from blogging, but I wanted to highlight the two most meaningful to me.

I haved learned to harness the power of technology and social media in a way that suits my life. My life coincided with the rise of social media, and I, the polyliteramore and lover of books that I am, was extremely skeptical of all things technological. When I grew tired of attempting to write a journal, I started a blog simply to hold myself accountable for writing every week. With the blog, I learned to navigate other social media platforms, realizing that, when used well, social media is an effective tool to connect with others.

My blog caused me to create a plethora of social media profiles. On Instagram and VSCO, I edit and share my favorite photos and find new books to read from book lovers around the world. Tumblr has taught me the value of collaboration, building upon peoples ideas without obsessing over likes and followers. Similarly, Pinterest encourages the spread of ideas and gives me plenty of topics to write about, while Facebook allows me to connect with people who are across the country from me, especially now that I live in Los Angeles for most of the year. And of course, I cannot forget Goodreads, the place where I keep track of every single book I read (update: I have read 31 of my 52 books for 2017!).

I will never be extraordinarily tech savvy or on top of the social media trends, but I have found my community within my own generation, and that is a lovely feeling.

The greater lesson I learned while blogging involves honesty. I began writing this blog on the tail end of a massive personal transformation. Until my junior year of high school, I spent my entire life living in the background, trying to be nice, trying to have everyone like me. After changing dance studios, quitting musical theatre, and finding some true friends, I started to speak up. I embraced a lifestyle of brutal honesty. At first, I was a bit too brutal, and I lost some friends thanks to my lack of tact. Since then I have learned to mediate kindness and honesty in a healthier way.

When I began my blog, I practiced this dialectic of kindness and honesty, trying to find a meeting ground between the things my soul wants to shout to the world and the whisper the world wants to hear from a girl like me. In the process, I uncovered a greater lesson: honesty is important in the world, but so is honesty with myself.

Nobody read my blog for the first six months or so, and it was easy to write whatever I wanted. Now that I have at least a few thousand page views per month, I find myself almost censoring what I have to say. I must confess I have a few angrier blog posts that I abandon on second glance. It has been a journey to convey my self-reflexive honesty in a way that is both brutal and raw, yet also kind and tactful.

Here's to two years, 128 posts, 30,000 views, hundreds of hours, and thousands of words of unadulterated me. From books to ballet to social justice, this blog has become a conglomeration of everything I love about this life. And, in honor of my blog's birthday, I upgraded the display a bit - feel free to explore!

Above all, thank you to my readers. You make this endeavor all the more worthwhile.