Dark Blue Journal: 3 years and 160 posts later.

Dark Blue Journal turns three today!

When I was notified that the domain and 3-year hosting plan were due for renewal, I considered closing the blog. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to write anymore, but because I wasn’t in a position to fork out hundreds of dollars. I had just booked a flight back to Singapore for a visit and was on the brink of losing my part-time job.

I didn’t close it. I sucked it up and paid the money.

After all, this isn’t the same as Medium, which is a content platform that isn’t my own. This is my little home on the internet, where I’ll never be evicted as long as I paid my rent, and never have to worry about changing policies (Medium) or my content violating community standards (Facebook).

By the way, if you know what I did to violate Facebook’s community standards, will you let me know? I’m really curious! Anyway, I digress.

I’ve had several blogs before, but Dark Blue Journal is the first one that’s still alive at year three. In fact, this is my 161st post. Not a lot, but a record for me. So that calls for a little celebratory post – a little writing about writing a blog.

• Read about my rambles on writing and creating
• Find out why I left Medium

A Hint from the Universe?

I cannot remember how I used to publish 1 to 2 posts a week. These days, it’s difficult to write as much as I want to. Aside from work, it has a lot to do with me not knowing which direction I want to take this blog, especially since I’ve stopped writing about information-based environmental topics.

I also didn’t want to do something that may move my site even farther down the searchability index.

Besides, I continue to be blocked by Facebook and Instagram for the reason mentioned above. Can a blog that cannot be shared on two major social media platforms be any good?

On the other hand, there’s something freeing about that. Since the blog doesn’t have much to lose, I have the creative freedom to take it in different directions. That’s always a good thing!

While researching for yet another project of mine, I came across this post by Seth Godin. He said that daily blogging is an “extraordinarily useful habit” and is “clarifying”, but the first 1000 posts are the hardest. In addition, most people would say they’re glad they did it by the 2ooth post.

Coincidentally, another article I read (and lost) mentioned 200 being a significant number for blogs too.

I can’t help wondering… Is this a sign? I came across two articles about publishing 200 posts (at least) when I wasn’t even looking for them! If the universe wants to drop me a hint, this is probably it.

• Check out this post about funny Southeast Asian superstitions

“Keep writing,” it says.

Dark Blue Journal persists

This begs the question, should I attempt to write daily? Someone said it’s an “extraordinarily useful habit” after all. Most importantly, I can use some clarifying. Just as importantly, keeping a blog is the best way to keep improving one’s writing chops.

In any case, I’ve decided I would write more. I’ve always wanted to pen down more of my thoughts about the climate crisis, social issues, living simply, and movies. There are so many of them! But I often held back because I didn’t think they were informative or objective, two things I try to achieve with my posts. Now that I’m no longer trying to inform, it looks like Dark Blue Journal will finally become a true journal.

And just like that, I found a new carrot: to get to post #200 in the next 6 months. That’s 4o more to go, or an average of 6 posts a month. And then I’ll assess the situation again.

I’m looking forward to this new phase of the blog. Can I do it? Stay tuned to find out!

Things I learnt in the past three years

If you’re a blogger wondering if you should keep your blog, here are some reasons why you should:

• According to an expert, it’s a good exercise for the brain and helps to clear your mind
• From my experience, it’s great for improving self-expression
• It’s enjoyable to build a little virtual space of your own
• You get to improve your writing
• Having a hobby is good for you
• Monetization is a possibility
• You may make some great blogging friends
• It’s an excuse to have an extra cup of coffee every now and then *winks*

However, if you’ve lost your love of writing, haven’t written in a long time, and your blog isn’t generating any traffic or revenue, consider decluttering it. It’s always better to not have the distraction, however small.

Do you blog daily? Do you have something you enjoy doing? Let me know in the comments!