They say the seven-year itch doesn’t really start on the seventh year. Most lifelong relationships start to falter by the fifth year.
And seeing many bloggers increasingly fall weary of blogging – even abandon it completely – on or before their fifth year, there may be some truth to that.
February 7th marked my half-decade of blogging. I went from Myspace’s mini blog to Friendster’s to Facebook notes. I was once The Ink Spills, then Salvation Project, until I met my semi-resistant-to-domestication alterego Filipina Explorer. It’s been a long journey, but it sure doesn’t feel like it.
There weren’t fireworks or melodramatic moments on how I somehow managed to last this long without getting sidetracked much of the time, but I am grateful. It meant that majority of me hasn’t yet forgotten why I started writing in the first place.
Most of us have writing as day jobs. It’s a job that morphs a life of its own, eating up schedules and gusto; the little space in our cloudy heads for creative writing. You know, those moments you write not because your boss needs you to, but because you ought to; need to, like breathing.
I used to think I could be a jack of all trades. I’d blog about momhood on Mondays, travel on Tuesday and Thursdays, writing on Wednesdays, food on Fridays and whatever on weekends. But now I know the stories, no matter how infrequent they are told, matter more than being that jack.
It was the stories, those five years, that voice in my oft cloudy head that brought me closer to my true destination.
Recently, I mentioned how I realized that I want to establish in the future a North Luzon-focused budget tour operating biz. That dream is still there, as perennial as the itch is for travel, but we all have to start baby steps. And I’ve made the first step.
I started crafting accessories specifically for explorers and wanderlusts like you and me. It’s called Explorer Accessories, for quite obvious reasons 🙂
It’s something I do when my hands and thoughts are tired of curating words. In these tiny handmade pieces of trees, paper planes, sails, mermaids, birds and sea-borne creatures, I find my way back to roads and destinations I’ve trodden and those I haven’t. And as I celebrate my fifth year of blogzenship, I’m sharing it with you.
Well, P500 worth of it (except for limited edition items). Plus a Lonely Planet Philippines guide (hand-me-down; used but in good condition), a paracord with whistle from Random Gears, and a beautiful sling bag from Bangkok.
You can join via Rafflecopter. The widget below has all the details you need to know. It’s up to you to make that baby step. I hope you do.
P.S. You can visit the store on:
Facebook: www.facebook.com/exploreraccessories
Instagram: instagram.com/exploreraccessories
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| This is a Boy-Kuripot Certified promo. |
