Why I Resisted Starting A Blog (and Why It's Finally Time)

Whether you've followed my work for a while or have just landed on this page, one of the first things you'll realise is that words are my jam. I love writing. It's how I process thoughts, it's how I connect, and for fifteen years it was how I earned a living. I've written books, film scripts, gallery booklets, university resources... and at the height of the pandemic, I wrote from-the-heart social media posts that resulted in a thousand new followers overnight (I've just about got comfortable with owning that truth). I know that, on a good day, when I'm writing about something I feel passionate about - whether that's living more simply, my lived experiences, sustainability in business, or social justice - words are a powerful way to connect with people. Even as a life coach, a huge part of what I do is helping people find the words (and the self-belief, confidence and courage) to share their truth and create the life they want to live.

I love blogs. I love the comfort of visiting a familiar website and discovering a new post that feels written just for me. There are blogs that I discovered in my teens on a rainy day and have followed for twenty years now. I still mourn the end of my all-time favourite Design Sponge and regularly revisit the archives for inspiration! Blogs are my go-to when I'm looking for a quick boost of motivation, when I want to explore how other people do things, or I want to get lost in someone's world and words for a while.

So when I qualified as a life coach and began to explore ways of sharing my offerings with the world, I had two options. The first was to hunker down in my comfort zone and use writing as my main form of communication. To keep on using social media to articulate what this new value-led business was all about, and all the positive change I want to create in the world. To start a blog and otherwise keep things relatively small and self-contained.

But I felt a strong resistance to doing that. My second option was to do things differently for the first time in my life. I wanted to stretch myself; in short, to lean into ways of being visible in the world that genuinely scared the hell out of me. I started to say Yes to podcasts and public speaking. In those very early days of Everyday Writes, I put the idea of writing a blog out of my mind because it felt too safe, too easy, too familiar. It felt too easy to hide behind the words - and I'd had enough of being invisible.

I came to life coaching after a prolonged period of isolation and I so craved connection in the form of speaking, conversation, in-person meetings and events. I knew myself well enough to know that that was where I needed to put down roots and see what might grow. I wanted to make myself visible in ways I'd never been courageous enough to try before. I didn't want my connections with the world to be confined to direct messages and social media comments. I needed those connections to leap off the page, to translate into conversations that made my heart feel alive and workshops I could pour my soul into.

I didn't abandon writing completely, though. Subscribers to my Radiant Folk community (which is free to join, by the way!) receive a weekly newsletter. I also love creating Mini Guides for my Radiant Folk community - a chance to dive deep into issues that come up time and again for the people I work with. The Radiant Folk resources have grown into a beautiful library of mini guides, journal prompts and lists... a kind of mini life coach in your pocket!

It always feels important to me that I practice what I preach: that it's OK to change your mind; that change is always possible; that sharing your processes helps others to create positive forward momentum in their own lives. Which is why you find yourself reading the first blog post from a writer who promised they'd never use the blog feature on their website...

Especially as someone with a divergent mind who also has caring responsibilties, it's important to be mindful when adding new commitments to my existing routine. There's a balance to be considered, making sure the new habit doesn't take away from my capacity to do existing things well. 

So why is now the perfect time to start my blog?

Because I have more to share than I can fit into my weekly newsletters and my Radiant Folk resources! Because I don't want all those ideas to be unwritten because of a misplaced stubbornness on my part. Because the blog format is the perfect home for all those ideas. Because I understand that, if you're anything like me, you will read every single blog post written by someone before you ever decide to join their mailing list.  Because I bloody love writing and I know enough about boundaries, systems and how I work best these days to trust that I can sustain it. Because it feels much more aligned to pour my energy into this space than to wrestle with social media that leaves me feeling fizzy and exhausted. Because writing gives me energy and brings me joy and I want to translate that into posts that will hopefully do the same for you. Because I am all about growing and doing things differently and (because it's often both and)

Because writing feels simple and simple is good, too.

Nadia x

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