How Blogging Changed Everything

The best thing to come from 2014 was definitely this blog. I owe so much to it. If you've followed me for a while, you may already know some of the ways this blog has changed things. But I wanted to write a post giving you all the full story, with the best ending- Spoiler alert. We'll have to back right up to the start here, to give my story some context. So please forgive me if this gets too long, but I will try to keep this as brief as possible.
My qualifications and experience have been a little shaky to say the least, the past few years. After school I went on to study Art and Design at college for A Levels, and I spent my best years so far there. I absolutely loved it, I learned so much, had brilliant friends and felt so inspired and ambitious. After that though came University, and this is where things got a little different. I started out on a Graphic Design course, and sure enough made plenty of friends and had a great first year at Uni. I knew something wasn't right though. The classes bored me out of my mind, I weren't being creative in any way, and I kept putting off work until the last minute. Or sometimes, even playing on the sympathy of my friends to do it for me! - I owe a lot to my friend Jason for this. He was a lifesaver!
Anyway, I knew I was on the wrong course. And as scary as it was to realise, I told my tutor about how unhappy I was. She suggested I switch to Fine Art, although I'd have to start again as a first year. This didn't bother me though; I liked the idea of a fresh start, and maybe this would be the change I needed.

With Laura

So I dropped Graphics, said goodbye to some of the best friends ever, and started again as a Fine Art student. Unfortunately, things didn't go right here either. Sure enough I made friends, including Laura - whose blogs you can find here by the way! - but I always felt kind of distant. This time is what I now refer to, as the worst time of my life. Somewhere between 2009-2010 I kind of lost myself. I ended a relationship with a nice guy, to start one with the worst guy. Don't get me wrong, me and the nice guy still needed to break up (he's still a great friend), but I then went onto the most unhealthy, fucked up, twisted, cruel relationship I've ever had. It started to change me. I lost all my confidence, I was no longer the 'loud/funny/bubbly' girl I used to be, I had been replaced by a quiet, unconfident, weak person. I didn't make much effort with Uni friends, or any friends to be honest. My work began slipping behind, and I had lost my creativity.
Then the relationship I was in got worse, ..much worse, then ended abruptly. I had been thrown out of the place I was living, I dropped out of Uni, and had to go live back home with my mum. I was unemployed, not in education, living out of boxes, and feeling pretty alone. I fell into a deep depression, and could barely get myself out of bed some days. I didn't even bother unpacking my things for 2 months. My parents were lovely and so supportive, they tied everything they could to bring me back.
And then.. a few months later, my Dad died. Suddenly and out of nowhere, he had a heart attack and was gone. This was the most painful thing that had ever happened to me, and it still kills me to realise the last times he seen me; I was in a deep depression. He never got to see me change, grow, be happy again. That first year after he died is kind of a blur to be honest. But weirdly enough, it forced me to pull myself out of my depression. I had realised how short life is, how much I needed to make the most of any time I had.

Shortly after, I met Gary and began working part time jobs. I started to see my friends more, and feel a little more like myself again. But flitting from one crappy retail job to another was hell. In my spare time though, early 2014, I decided to start a blog. I'd been toying with the idea for too long, and finally decided to give it a go. I had suddenly found a place to encourage my creativity, find others with the same likes, learn and grow.

I've made some amazing friends, found something that inspires me, and brings me some great opportunities. And as of December 2014, my blog landed me a digital/tech job for a website company - even though I had NO experience or relevant qualifications. How crazy is that?! After much encouragement from Gary to actually apply for the Social Media/digital jobs I'd been lusting after, I finally got a call for an interview. I had put on my CV; the address to my blog/social media and just how much I wanted to change my career to go into this sort of work. And somehow, it worked. I was honest in my interview about my lack of experience or relevant qualifications. But I expressed my passion for this sort of work, and talked about everything I do in my spare time to learn and get involved. I talked about my blog, and how important social media is today. My employer was impressed, and offered me the job 45 minutes after leaving the interview. It was the happiest end to 2014 I could have ever asked for.
I am now learning so much more than I imagined in this job, and getting valuable experience I would never have dreamed I could. It just goes to show that blogging is now being taken seriously, and if you are passionate enough about something, even without the experience - it is still 100% possible to go for.
I look forward to seeing what new things are in store for me in 2015, and I hope you guys enjoyed reading this. Remember, don't give up!
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