Yesterday, an event was held by Kidspot which brought bloggers from all over Australia to Melbourne.
It was also when the finalists in the Voices of 2015 were announced.
I could have got a ticket and gone…but I didn’t….and I think I was the only blogger round here that wasn’t there.
I was nominated which was lovely, but so were hundreds of others…878 to be exact…and alphabetically, I was no 877!
So no, I didn’t make it into the top 100…I didn’t expect to…but I am very proud to say one of my blogging friends did!
Check out @rarepearstudio on Instagram…that lady has so much talent, and I love her vibrancy and colour!
But awards like this can be somewhat unsettling for little voices like me…
Am I doing this blogging caper wrong?
Doesn’t anyone love my blog?
Am I not good enough?
Why do I even want to be involved in an award/competition such as this?
I won’t deny that I am a little disappointed that Zinc Moon didn’t catch the judges eyes…a feeling that is somewhat surprising considering I have never read anything on Kidspot, and am not a big blog reader myself.
But realistically, in blogging terms, I am very much a square peg that just won’t fit nicely into a niche.
I don’t relate to most of what is written on Kidspot…
I don’t have kids, I don’t like food much and don’t cook….I am not creative although I can take a reasonable photograph.
I don’t write about fashion…or beauty…but I do like to do outfit shots.
I don’t write about controversial subjects….or social issues…but I like to spread awareness about organ donation and liver disease whenever I can.
What I do write about is our life, and our experiences….which are very much uniquely ours!
Who else has been a full time carer for her husband, who then had a liver transplant…and then found herself diagnosed with thyroid cancer…all in the last four years?
Who else is a contradiction….who loves gadgets, yet wears vintage?
Who else is a tea snob that rants about how tea is served in cafes around the country?
I could go on…
So the paradox of acknowledgement is this…we all crave recognition, and I admit that I walk a little taller when one of my followers on IG or Facebook pays me a compliment, or a reader leaves a nice comment on the blog.
But then I don’t want to be one of the pack…following what everyone else is doing and become part of a bigger organisation.
I want to remain somewhat unpredictable in blogging terms.
Because I have learned the hard way, that life can change in a split second…I don’t want to be corralled into a box.
As I blog everyday, I like the fact that I can write about whatever I want.
My husband is proud of me, my friends are proud of me…I have a growing number of followers and I appreciate every single one of them!
My voice may be small when compared to others, and it may get lost in the general noise and overshadowed by the big bloggers, but it’s there…and it’s uniquely me!
And that’s enough for me to keep going, and I hope you will join me to see where this journey will take us!
I am so not a fan of blogging competitions for reasons you so eloquently addressed in your post x
Thanks! I am still a newbie at all this, but I am beginning to realise that blogging competitions/awards aren’t all they are cracked up to be! x
Yes, great synopsis. Why worry about not winning when you are totally running a different path? Love your unique blog. 🙂
Thank you! I am definitely running down a different path…and loving it! 🙂
It was a great event, you should have come along. The community aspect of those days is awesome.
Maybe next time! 🙂
I love your blog and I am similarly conflicted about blogging competitions. I think focussing on the community aspect is the way to go – and having Annette’s awesome attitude to life in general!
Thanks Robyna! The blogging community aspect is good, but even within that, I have discovered that there seems to be the “cool” groups and the “its not what you know, but who you know” thing going on. It’s like being back at school again!
I am always fascinated by paradoxes and this is a big one isn’t it?! We’re taught to dance like no one is watching and write like no one is reading … but the jolt of happiness that bit of acknowledgement gives … it’s pretty addictive! I think the best thing to do is to acknowledge the paradoxical feeling, take interest in the way we’re feeling … and then, move on. And it sounds like you’ve done just that so … all good!
So very true Kelly…it is a very big paradox! I admit I do love getting comments both here and on social media…I am so appreciative of any acknowledgement from my “village”! I am certainly not a disappointed blogger, complaining because she didn’t make it…this is just another experience on the big learning curve that is blogging! 🙂
I may have met you through Minette’s Vintage, but I continue to follow your blog because I enjoy reading about the many and varied things you share. I follow a few different blogs for different reasons and yours is truly a breath of fresh air and is to me what blogs originally started for – an unbiased, personal online diary. Please continue!
You are so sweet, Amy – thank you! I am so glad you enjoy the blog! Will come and visit soon! x
I wasnt there either hun and you dont need any awards to encourage me to continue to read your blog – you write from the heart and that is what I love most about you xx
Thank you Sonia – that is so kind of you to say! Hopefully our paths will cross one day as I would love to meet you and thank you for your support in person! xx
Hmm, I find blogging comps are more for the company than the bloggers you know? I have been blogging for 3 years no nominations but somehow got on the Kidspot Alumni list?!? I have no business being there. Anyway so glad I found someone who is nicheless as well. I am floating not sure which direction to take but labels pigeon hole people so who knows where we will end up with our blogs. Congrats on being nominated, but bigger congrats on blogging to the beat of your own drum.
I think you are right, Lisa…it is all about the various companies and their promotions, which often have nothing to do with what interests me anyway! Glad to find another nicheless blogger…although if pressed for a descriptiom, I am now leaning towards being “personality” blogger as that allows me to write about anything that interests me! 🙂
It’s precisely because you are unique that I find you interesting. Vive la difference! 🙂
…and your outfits are so cool they make me bite my thumb with jealous dismay; big girls like me mustn’t have existed in times past, because vintage stores only have dresses for the little ladies! But at the end of the day, my style can be expressed in other ways. Just wanted to say that every outfit you wear and post makes me go ‘wow’!
Thank you for your lovely comments, Rachel. I really appreciate it! It has taken me over forty years to even discover I had a sense of style so it’s never to late! And I am very lucky to have had lots of guidance along the way! 🙂