Two Years On

Two years on from what you may ask?

Today my blog celebrates its 2nd birthday.

And it (I) would like cake....thanks :)

Apparently only 5% of blogs reach this milestone. For many, blogging starts off as a fun hobby but then their blog falls by the wayside due to writer's block, disillusion at the lack of comments they receive, busyness of life or the fact that being committed to updating a blog regularly takes...well....commitment. That's something which a lot of people don't have these days in many areas but that's a topic for another post.

Over the past two years I have learnt a lot about the rules/etiquette and general experiences of blogging. I learnt a lot about life, about God and about myself. I've also learnt some blogs are worth reading and others aren't worth a minute of my time. Sometimes you need to pick and choose who you listen to.

Shortly after my wedding, I considered giving my blog the flick. Not because of its small readership. Not because I'd run out of things to say. It was because I was growing disheartened about the often lack of godliness in the blogosphere, even between Christians, and I know I'm not the greatest either so I thought maybe I should just quit. But then God reminded me that the blogosphere is really no different to the world in a lot of ways and I can't run from the world just because it aint nice sometimes. I'm called to be in the world but not of the world. So here I am, in the blogosphere but called to be a radically different blogger for Christ. I'm still learning what this entails. But I aint going nowhere. Sorry but if that disappoints you....tough hehe. I'm here to stay :)

Some other things I've learnt:

• Archives are fabulous to look back on. Sure, sometimes I re-read posts and cringe but it was all part of the 'journey'. Two years ago, I was single and had my heart set on moving to Melbourne. Two years later, I'm married and living in a place that's much much smaller than Melbourne. Strange how things work out.
• The smiley is not always an accurate representation of a blogger's current emotions. Sometimes I've typed a smiley when I've been seething with anger, ready to throttle some people because of something they wrote. I'm trying to let my smileys coincide with my smile but it's not easy sometimes.
• I ummed and aahed for months over whether to start my own blog after being a lurker on others' blogs for months beforehand. Sure, if I hadn't started it I would have saved hours and hours of my time but I would have also missed out on just sharing life with people (complete strangers at first) and learning so much.
• Some things are worth debating (fighting) about and some things aren't worth my breath and I've learnt to just let it go.

I also comprehended a change of title for my blog since 'Sed' is a combination of the first letter of Sarah plus the first two letters of my now maiden name. Now that my surname has changed, should my blog's name change too? I decided, nah, the Sedshed will continue to exist as it is.
What about you? What have you learnt over your time as a blogger? If you're reading this but don't have your own blog, what's stopping you starting one? What do you find about blogging that benefits you personally? And what do you find frustrating?
Happy 2nd anniversary to 'This is what Sed said'.