The Mast-Head is one year old

Today I would like to celebrate this blog’s first milestone: exactly one year ago I decided to open it and start sharing my thoughts in it. You can read the original post here if you like. Looking back, there are a few things that I think I have learnt from this experience so far.

The good things

Most of the advantages of blogging are well-known and documented all over the internet. But I would like to list here what this blog has meant for me personally.

  1. It has given me an outlet to express some ideas and thoughts I’ve had during the year. I do have a bullet journal which I use daily as planner as well as diary, but a blog forces me to organise and write my thoughts in a more organic, clearer way. And to do so in English, providing some extra writing practice in what to me is a foreign language.
  2. It is fun to set up and to look back to. I have been able to go back and re-read some of the things I have written so far, which gives me some insight into how I have changed, what things have mattered and what things have stopped mattering to me throughout the year.
  3. It has kept me away from social media. Having this personal space to express my opinions and thoughts, I have been able to mainly steer clear of social media platforms (excluding for work), and have found what I consider a healthier way to share my experience with others, free from invasive trackers and marketing.

The things I would like to improve

Of course, not everything was perfect. Quite the contrary. Firstly, I have not posted nearly as often as I was hoping to. This is of course due to life commitments as well as to the lack of ideas or prompts to write. I did not set myself any specific goals or numbers, but I was generally hoping to be able to post al least twice a month. I will try to do better in 2023, possibly creating a list of prompt to use during the year to inspire some posts.

Secondly, I’m not sure the random variety of topics I cover is very reader-friendly. I know many blogs stick to one specific topic or subject in order to attract readers interested in that particular area. However, my intent was to create a personal blog which could reflect who I am, what I am interested in. This naturally leads to a bit of randomness, which I am sure alienates some of “my twenty-five readers”. Nevertheless, I don’t wish to change the nature of this blog, as I don’t feel like trying again to venture into the single-theme blog. To put it plainly, I wish to have a place where I can express my ideas and concerns without having to worry about being off topic.

In conclusion, this experience has been more than positive so far. I hope to be able to continue for years to come, and to maintain this corner of the web as a precious little outlet of my personal views, ideas, and experience.

Happy first birthday, The Mast-Head!

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