Monday, September 23, 2013

Thank You

Dear reader,

Thank you for staying with me during a year in which I haven't blogged regularly. You could even say it was a period where I didn't blog at all. And although it saddened me, I realise now that I think this was necessary for me to continue to enjoy blogging. When I left for London last year, I scheduled a bunch of things. Those posts never went up, first due to a blogger glitch and then due to the fact that I re-read them and thought I could do better. But I didn't do anything. The blog was empty.

I felt guilty for not putting stuff up, but I also felt empty. I think I may have asked too much of myself during that time, which caused me to become overwhelmed and just give up altogether. So I never edited those posts and I never wrote those reviews -- at least not at that time.

In November, my life started to change: I started looking for a place of my own. And found an apartment that I fell in love with. After that everything went very quickly; reviewing and signing the papers, last checks, and then in January I was suddenly able to call myself a home-owner. Wow. This then resulted in me spending a lot of time getting the house ready to move in, which seriously took away my reading time.

Fast forward to August 2013. I try to get back into blogging. It has taken me a couple of weeks (read: months) to settle into a routine of working full-time, chores, reading and blogging, but it feels like I found my way a bit now. Thankfully, I took notes of the books I read so I now have a massive backlog (the upside is that I have more than enough to post about).

Then I met some amazing Dutch book bloggers online, and we even went out to Boekenfestijn together in September to go bookshopping. I wouldn't have believed I would ever go out with so many amazing people who also love books. Because to be honest, while the book blogging community is like a warm nest, I somehow still felt alone at some times. I'm a big introvert, mainly offline, but I also feel like I'm bothering someone online. Which is the reason I rarely comment on other blogs -- I'm more of a lurker. I guess that's just some sort of chronic brainfarting.. What I'm trying to say is that I find it hard to approach people, both offline and online, so when Amber mentioned a ton of Dutch bloggers one day, I was very excited. And still am! Because we're setting up a book club! YAY!

What I'm trying to say is that I feel less alone in the crowd. I feel like I somehow found a spot that works for me, even though I'm still a bit tentative about stuff, I feel like I'm more comfortable. And that results in me wanting to blog, to comment, to tweet, to interact with people. I realise I've missed that. A lot.

So thank you. Thank you to each and every one of you who talked to me while I wasn't here, everyone who interacted with me on Goodreads, everyone who looked at my blog in the past year. I know there wasn't much to look at, but you still came by. And I cannot put into words how much I appreciate that. I'm thankful, and I want you to know that I like you. A lot.

So thanks.





6 comments:

  1. Awhhh! I still feel very awkward on Twitter and I'm always afraid I said something stupid when someone doesn't reply.. I'm always nervous when I post a tweet there or when I try to approach someone.. I don't really mind commenting on blogs, but I know the feeling. I'm still so happy I didn't turn around when I was on my way to the Boekenfestijn, haha. I was so sacred to meet you guys :p I almost chickened out, because I'm always afraid people find me strange/weird/whatever. Especially because I know I'm a bit.. awkward in the beginning, just because I'm not sure how to act.

    But yeaaay, it was great and it's awesome that the book club is happening :D I'm also happy that you are finding your place and I can't wait to see all the posts/reviews!

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  2. I'm so, so happy we met and so glad things are working out for you. Also, this post made me tear up a bit. You're awesome, lady! <33333

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  3. Welcome back! As someone who's also just getting back into blogging after months of falling behind on reviews and hardly posting anything (due to going back to school and getting married, in my case), I totally understand!

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  4. I'm so happy for you for all the wonderful changes you've made this year!! And I'm really glad we met in real life! AND YAY BOOKCLUB! :D <3

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