what i reaped after four years of blogging and what i want to sow.

work for a cause not applause. live life to express not impress.

it's been four years past since i "planted" this little site. it seems like an age.
in all honesty, these past few months i've wondered if I should stop. after all, college is on the horizon; and hiatuses seem a little more common than they should be, while inspiration's only continuous trait seems to be constant absence. but, i keep having to breathe deeply and be reminded that winter only knows how to steal {warmth, color, verdure, birds, inspiration}. cold is its only companion - and it takes a true poet to see the beauty in that {by the way, i'm not that poet, just so you know:P}.

and i've pondered about changing the whole bit. uprooting my garden idea and placing it in a journal-type format with postscripts and footnotes and the like - but only for myself and my art...or what i like to call such. but then i remembered why i started "gardening/blogging." i started to gather people, because in the real world that's the purpose of a garden. to gather, to encourage, and to connect. i have met the dearest people in the world - people i couldn't even imagine where i'd be without, through blogging. and that's the charm i feel is slowly being left behind. focusing on gaining more followers instead of friendships, more comments instead of encouragement, more stats in place of truly bonding over common interests and inspiring one another. working for a niche that isn't your true style.

||| all these letters are for blogging friends // the yellow one is from one of my best of blogging friends ||| 

my friend wrote to me in a letter not too long ago about how when she left the blogging world, it felt like a lot of bloggers were writing only for themselves. and i wonder if that's why so many of the blogs, i loved to follow along have since been abandoned now after all these years. because trends only last awhile. floating sidebars go out of fashion; stellar photographs run out of film; editing programs become obsolete; writings run out of inspiration. i photograph for a compliment. i blog for comments. i blog for my own personal ego. "grace, you're so lovely;" "grace, you are so talented!" "grace, your photographs are stunning!" and if the comments stop one day, if inspiration runs for the hills, my frustration will always be rooted in unhappiness.

well, unhappiness ends here. it's time to rise to the challenge. it's time to stop aspiring and start connecting. stop reaping and start sowing.

*so tell me one blog you love, that inspires you, challenges you; and the blogger you want to aspire towards being like. tell me why? is it because of the number of followers or their true style? tell me why you love blogging. tell me why every time you log into your account - your heart skips a beat. tell me about the relationships you've formed and the people you've met and the stories of how blogging people have been there for you on a bad day or the time you met your best friend in real life behind the laptop that typed up all your posts.* 

blogging is a community. and someday, i'm going to travel the world - and i want to met every one of you so i can hear your story.

thanks for sticking around, friend. 
xx ||| tell me your story*