366 Days.
Originally published on www.kesifelton.com
February 10, 2017
On Sunday I sat down and thought about the past 366 days: What I've learned, problems I've faced, and what I hope to do in the next 365. I definitely wanted to come up with a way to celebrate, because for me this is definitely something to celebrate. I'll let you know now it may be a little much, but I'll start by simply saying thank you.
When I started this blog a year ago I didn't know what I wanted to come from it. I just felt a need to create a space where I could make my voice heard. I honestly didn't think anyone would read it, so thank you to everyone that does. Thanks, Mom and Dad, for helping me along the way and investing in this even when I may not have every detail planned out. Thanks to my family and friends for supporting me since day one, I love you guys so much. Thanks to everyone that takes the time to read my posts. I see you and I appreciate you all more than you know.
What's changed since “A Few Things I Learned After a Month Off of Instagram?”
Well, I'm much more conscious about my online presence. I feel more like my authentic self compared to the 16- or 17-year-old me that tried way too hard to impress people. I make the effort to connect with more people who inspire me and have a much clearer idea of what my purpose is. Now that I'm at Howard, especially, I have bigger and better experiences, as well as access to people and things to learn from than I could have ever imagined.
Here's some basic advice I would give myself (or anyone else interested in starting a blog) knowing what I know now:
1. Start.
If you've ever wanted to start a blog, YouTube channel, business, etc... go for it! Putting yourself out there really isn't as scary as it seems, especially if you're having fun with it and it's your passion. Even if it doesn't become the next big thing, you started and that's an accomplishment in itself. I've said multiple times that even if no one read my blog, I would still continue because it's honestly one of my favorite things to work on. The skills I've learned when it comes to creating I have applied to my journalistic writing, and it's been a good starting place for me to build a body of work. Both of which I I wouldn't have the opportunity to do had I not put my fears aside and hit "post".
2. Have several posts up before your site goes live.
I think that writing a bunch of content and then building up the anticipation of my blog going live would've it do better in the beginning. Again, I had no idea what I wanted it to be and as y'all can tell I just kind of figured it out as I went along. I think I feel this way now since I (kind of) have a better idea of what content I like to produce.
3. Don't be so caught up in doing numbers that you hold back something you have to say.
There are several of my earlier posts that I think are trash but I wrote them because at that point in time I felt the need to write it for a reason. I had something to say so I said it and I can't say I regret that at all. There have been some posts that I didn't feel 100% comfortable sharing but ended up connecting with someone and I'll put that over my comfort any day.
4. Have fun with your blog.
Especially now that I'm pursuing a degree and career in Journalism, I often have to put my own views aside for the sake of a story. What my blog represents to me now is the one place where I can be myself and say what I want. I also use this as a space to experiment with writing about different topics and seeing what I'm good at.
As for what I want to do with my blog for the next 365 days, there are little things that I'm gonna try out soon that I hope you guys will like. Aside from my advice/ lifestyle pieces, I want to try doing more commentary on and reviews of books, movies, and music. But the biggest thing that I want to accomplish in the next year is really just to connect with more people and learn as much as I can about as much as I can. This past year has been so much fun and I can't wait to see what the next one brings.
–kf
