The Story of My Blog
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My original plan for this blog was to write about my journey as someone returning to photography, excited by what I would learn, the adventures I would take and the joy it would bring. I felt that sharing my experiences might help someone else embarking on a similar journey and that it might give some inspiration to another aspiring photographer as well as giving me an outlet to express my own thoughts and learning as I progressed through this exciting journey. I had no idea where the journey would take me, but I was open to all possibilities.
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I’ve been blogging for over two years now. My blog has grown and changed in line with the twists and turns in my journey. My blog is no longer confined to learning photography but has branched out in all directions and encompasses lots of ideas, many of which are still photography related, if only vaguely so.
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But let me get back to the beginning.
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This blog didn’t start with my first post, it really started a long time ago.
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It started with:
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My passion for photography which began when I got my first camera at age 10.
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My lifelong love of writing.
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My interest in healthy living and involvement in yoga, meditation and mindfulness, and general wellbeing.
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My training during my career in areas of positive health and mindfulness practices, and the opportunities I had to promote wellbeing and creativity.
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My growing appreciation for technology and its benefits as a means of communication.
When I decided to take early retirement from my career in education, I knew I needed something to put in the place of a busy, fulfilling career.
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The obvious answer was to reignite my interest in photography, which had been put on the back burner for a few years. It seemed sensible to combine some of my other interests and start a blog to chronicle my new journey.
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My blogging journey has had many turns in the road, both internally and externally.
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I started with the basics of photography and what I needed to learn but soon discovered that photography was opening new doors in my life, doors which led to a consideration of all the things that were adding benefits to my life.
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Fast forward to today and I continue to learn more about blogging, about what my readers would like and about how to grow my audience. I am also learning about life, and how I can pack more into the stream of life every day.
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In terms of my blog, I need to think about what my objectives are at this stage of my blog’s development and what I need to do to improve my output for my readers.
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I need to ask myself questions such as,
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What do I hope to offer my readers?
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Before I can answer that question I need to ask myself, who are my readers? what do they need? what are their hopes and dreams? how can I help them?
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So...
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Who Do I Think You Are, As a Reader of My Blog?
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I think you have an interest in photography, although you are not a professional. You’re probably curious about the world around you, love to explore it, experience as much as possible and capture some of these experiences as images.
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I think you would like to improve at photography so you can capture better images of the world around you, images that express your own vision.
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I also think you’re someone who’s interested in improving your wellbeing, finding joy in life, and maybe beginning to think about living your life in a new, less stressful way. That’s why I occasionally write about the benefits of curiosity, creativity, mindfulness and anything that can improve wellbeing.
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I don’t think you are reading my blog to become technically proficient at photography – there are many other blogs that will help you with this much better than I can. But I think you like looking at the world with fresh eyes and capturing what you see in an image.
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What’s In It For You?
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Why should you bother reading my blog?
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I really hope you will enjoy reading what I write and that it will be of benefit to you.
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I hope to share with you some of the pleasures of discovery through photography— the joys of looking at the world in new ways through the lens of a camera and beyond.
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I hope to inspire you to enjoy this wonderful hobby and encourage you to be curious, to experiment and to discover different ways to think about and experience this world we live in.
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I hope to reveal to you, as I have discovered for myself, the great benefits to our health and wellbeing which are offered by photography, in particular mindful photography.
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This Is Me
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I enjoy spending time with my granddaughter, whose enthusiasm for life continues to inspire me.
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If you would like to read more about my passions in life, please have a look at my About Page: https://www.wildwillowways.com/about
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visit me on Instagram @wildwillowways
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or contact me here: https://www.wildwillowways.com/contact
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