Digital Sanctuary: Why You Need To Start Your Personal Blog

Estimated reading time: 11 minutes

It’s time to build your digital sanctuary and start your personal blog. The internet needs it. You need it.

It’s time start your personal blog. Here’s why.

A couple of years ago, I read an article by Monique Judge in The Verge urging us as a society to bring back the personal blog. In that piece, she reminds us of the early days of what blogging was and its importance. She also reflects on the social media landscape that eclipsed the blogging universe only to go completely to shit.

And that was in 2022. It’s only gotten worse. Way worse.

OG blogger

As a long-time blogger, I’ve watched personal blogs come and go—many of them by people who became friends through my involvement in overlanding and family adventure circles. And I miss them. I get it, though. I’ve struggled to keep this blog humming along in the big scheme of life.

But with my renewed vigor for this project, I suppose I’m also nostalgic for the heyday of the personal blog and the community I had when it was at its height.

Social media hellscape

In her article, Ms. Judge reminisced about the community experience that existed in what she calls the golden age of the internet. She lamented the loss of the art of personal storytelling that was the touchstone that defined those early days of the internet’s existence.

In the current age of the internet and the arrival of the 800-pound gorilla that is social media, that sense of community has eroded. I think most of us have a love-hate relationship with social media because of that erosion. I certainly do.

And yet we participate anyway, not wanting to feel left out or cut off from our personal connections. So we continue to navigate the social media hellscape and tolerate the unsavory parts to be able to maintain the small nuggets of what is good about it.

We don’t have to settle

With that preface, what I’d like you to consider today is that we have alternatives. We don’t have to settle for that bullshit. We can stay connected in ways that don’t involve tip-toeing on eggshells through the Metaverse and the other greedy, juggernaut platforms.

That alternative is to create our own spaces in the digital universe in the form of a blog as Monique Judge compels us to. Think of it as your digital home.

Build your digital home

On your blog, you can build your own framework. You can decide the rules, the atmosphere, the content, and not be subject to the whims of the powers-that-be on other platforms. It’s your digital sanctuary.

I can already hear your chorus of objections—that you’re not a good writer, you don’t know what to say, no one wants to hear what you have say. Blah, blah, blah. If you’re participating and sharing on social media platforms, you’re already doing it.

So why not create your own space? Maybe “blogging” just seems too formal or official. It doesn’t have to. Set that misconception aside.

Your house, your rules

With your own blog, you are the publisher, not the product like on social media platforms.

And remember—I can’t emphasize this enough—your blog is your space. You’re in control of what to share, how much detail, who to share it with, and who gets to comment on it. If you want to keep your blog project a secret until you’ve got your feet under you and get comfortable with it, that’s fine. But don’t let it live in the darkness forever. 

There are people who will want to read it. It might be only your family and friends to start but your words might—and most likely will—resonate well beyond your personal sphere depending upon how you decide to go about it and who to share it with.

Your voice matters

In the early days of my blog’s existence, I was a part of a cadre of adventurous, outdoorsy, parenting-bloggers. One of those bloggers was second-guessing creating the “same” content that a lot of other people had already written about regarding kids in the outdoors. 

I told her to just write it. I reminded her that she brings her unique experience to the advice she gives her audience. More importantly, her audience trusts her. The same exact words from someone else simply wouldn’t have the same impact because she has a connection with her readers. And that’s what this is all about.

Bottom line, don’t be your own gatekeeper. Don’t compare it to what others have written and thereby devalue what you have to share. Just dive in and share your story, in your words, in your own way.

Relax

Seriously, relax. Don’t overthink it. Get all “Nike” on that shit and just do it.

Your skills will develop. So will your style. You will find you have more to say than you thought once you open up the mental dam. You will find your unique voice in your new space.

Here’s the great news for you. If you’re focused on a personal blog as a hobby, you don’t have to give a moment’s thought about how your content fits within your “niche” or any of that nonsense. Write what you feel like writing.

That’s the beginning of creating a better digital world and reclaiming the community experience of the internet. And beyond making the internet a better place for the rest of us, there are a shit ton of reasons you should do this for yourself.

Rewards

A blog is a personal growth project. It will help you hone your writing skills and improve your communication skills in general. 

Plus, writing is cathartic. You will surprise yourself with personal revelations and be amazed by the clarity you find when you put physical form to your memories and thoughts. 

Whether you’re an accomplished writer or a new one—especially in a personal context—it’s important to keep a growth mindset. Don’t try to be perfect from the outset. Just start. Let it evolve. Let the process surprise you.

If you need some inspiration, consider picking up the book “Start Ugly” by David Duchemin (affiliate link)in which he says

“Creators must not fear the messy, the bad ideas, or the disastrous first attempts. Not only must we not fear those things, we must run wildly towards them.”

We are all creators

I know I’ve queued up your next round of objections. “Hold the phone there, Val—I’m not creative.” I’m here to tell you that you are. You are human and therefore you are a creator. Creating is an inherent human trait. 

Anytime we take action or make unique, personal choices on how to assemble something—tangible or intangible—we are creating. We create in a multitude of ways every day even if we don’t realize it—cooking dinner, deciding on your wardrobe for the day, decorating your home. That’s all creating. Writing a kick-ass report at work. Nurturing a garden. Guess what? Tada! Creating.

Participating in a neighborhood clean up or spending time with friends and loved ones is also creating. Those might be intangible but making memories and building community together is probably the epitome of what we create in our lives.

I urge you to expand your definition of what creating is beyond the traditional notions of creative activities like art and music.

Connecting

What you create in your blogging process will be the connection missing from the current experience of the internet. Surely your family and close friends will read it but your voice will resound well beyond your personal sphere depending upon how you decide to go about it and who to share it with.

At a minimum, you might think of it as a year-round update for your loved ones. Instead of the once-a-year newsletter stuffed into a holiday card, you’ll create a platform to share more deeply throughout the year with your tribe near and far. 

A continual flow of richer content will certainly be far more meaningful than a smattering of cursory posts that the social media gorilla may or may not decide to show to the people you care about.

[FYI—It’s not exactly a news flash, but gone are the days when the platforms only show you content from people you “follow.” What you’re seeing in your feeds is now about 50 percent “disconnected” or “interest-based” content as they call it. So basically the algorithm is second-guessing what you want to see.]

Getting started

Ok, so you’ve stayed with me this long, I’m hoping that means you’re ready to give this a go. Your blog can be a chronological journal of sorts but I encourage you to think about it differently.

Here’s some food for thought to get started:

• Put words to a funny story from days gone by.
• Share elements of “you” that may never come up in other conversations.
• Think about social media posts you’ve made. Take those and expand on them a little bit.
• Use those Facebook memories as a catalyst to go a little deeper.

You may want to fold in your major life event stories as you build up your blogging steam. Share your wedding story, a child’s birth story, how you met your partner, how you chose your career, etc. 

Over time you might also begin to share more intimate stories and thoughts. You can write a memorial about someone dear to you who you’ve lost. You can find catharsis in sharing difficult times and events in your life.

That’s just the tip of the iceberg of possibilities. Don’t be afraid to share the whimsical and the vulnerable. The silly and the serious.

Preserve your history

When you’re feeling self-conscious, I want you to think of a person you love who is gone. Do you wish you had a collection of their stories?You are that person to someone. Imagine the comfort they’ll get from having your memory preserved in your own words.

Those words can even become a part of a bigger project. You might not have any intention of writing a memoir but you could by putting together what you capture on your blog. 

Or maybe you do want to write a memoir but you’re struggling to start. That’s a huge project. By beginning to write bits and pieces on a blog, that book will come together little by little and you’ll have captured your memories before the details fade into the dusty recesses of your mind. 

Let’s make something better

Claiming your own space in the digital ether to share your story, thoughts, ideas, and memories is a win for all of us. Because creating content that fosters community and connection is what we need collectively as a society right now. It’s the antidote to the click-bait news, social media dumb-assery, and AI slop that plagues us today.

You can be a part of a digital renaissance that will foster the next golden age of the internet and help the digital world be a better space for all of us. Sharing your story with the world is how we reclaim the internet, one unique voice at a time.

And rather than feeling like the Don Quixote of the internet tilting at digital windmills, remember what you will gain. Starting your blog will improve your personal skills, offer you an outlet to process events in your life, and create a deeper connection with your family and friends. Collecting your thoughts in one place may turn into something bigger than you ever imagined. But you won’t know if you don’t start.

Remember, it doesn’t have to be fancy or perfect from the get-go. Know that it will evolve. Your skills will evolve. You will evolve.

Now go to that keyboard and get started because I would love to know your story.

Share your blog link in the comments so I can follow along.

Cheers, friends! And keep moving forward.

PS—Drop a comment below if you have questions about the nuts and bolts of starting a blog.

PPS—Also, if you didn’t go read the Monique Judge post I linked to at the beginning, go do that now.