Once of the most recognizable things about me is my passion for the written word. I have notes scribbled on absolutely every free space of paper, I carry a journal as if it were ingrained into my flesh, and the side of my left hand has a permanent ink stained tattoo on the skin. For the last 5 years combined of high school and college, I had such an unsolicited restriction on myself that the only things I wrote should be homework assignments. Once some of that weight fell off with credit fulfillment, I ached for the creative side of things again, where by-the-book homework assignments could not hinder; my brain could finally go off in whichever direction it pleased. So it was only a natural occurrence that I combine my haphazard scribbles with the rising trend of social media and start a blog.
I chose to find both everyday topics (like fashion, baking, crafting) and special occasions (like the Royal wedding, a runway show, a personal revelation) to fill the text boxes and HTML that fit the aura. I knew that, like my attitude, I wanted this to be something positive and fulfilling for not just me, but the potential readers that I would be writing for. Unlike popular magazines or periodicals, I had no commercialistic intentions, just the hope that my reader would be someone that saw things differently than I did, so that I could shed light on a new perspective they may not have otherwise seen. I wrote on the principle that our role as individuals in society is to produce groundbreaking solutions for common, or even uncommon, problems and thus present them in an unproblematic, effortless manner to an audience that does not share the same viewpoint. I had to develop my own sense of self and create specific ideas about the world, something that I could not have done without all my English, history, and psychology courses. To truly be successful in communication, I had to reason with myself while reasoning with my audience.
In modern-day society, we are so influenced by the powers over us that we stop asking questions, often hardened against the truths and changes that combat conformity. I set out with my blog with the intention of doing just that, and accomplished so much more. Through the process I attended my first formal fashion show and met Project Runway host Tim Gunn in person. I spoke of my blog and hobbies in fashion, and he affirmed the power of applying academic knowledge to even something as ethereal as the blogging world, “every course you take is critically important to who you will be…it’s a context that’s historical, political, economical…it’s the whole world, global even!” In the 6 months that I’ve diligently contributed to my blog posts, I have gained almost 400 page views and even some subscribing followers! None of which would be possible if I didn’t have the academic background that I had, if the love of reading and writing hadn’t been instilled in me, if I hadn’t been given the opportunity at Centralia College to have more information available to me than I could possibly ever hope to learn, but ideas that I will blog about every step of the way.
Until next time,
Love & Cupcakes!
xox Flowerbomber xox
