This may look like my first blog post, but it’s not. I blogged almost daily at witandwhistle.com from roughly 2009–2015. I had some posts go viral, and I enjoyed the sweetest group of loyal readers (if any of you see this, thank you!). Once Google Reader was canceled I struggled to keep up with the blogs I followed. Content creators seemed to move to posting on Instagram instead of blogging. The engagement wasn’t there anymore on the Wit & Whistle blog, I was mourning the loss of our quirky old 1970s A-frame house, it felt like I was posting into a void, I had two young children and was struggling to find time for myself, and I lost the motivation to keep posting. Eventually I took down the old blog, because it felt like a weird past version of myself haunting the interwebs.
I turned my focus to Instagram. I intended to focus on home decor, but somehow my Instagram became all about houseplants. I posted regularly for many years—photos and informative plant care videos. Now I realize all the work I put in is buried under a sea of Instagram content, never to be seen again. So much time spent and my content isn’t searchable on the internets, and it’s controlled by the great and terrible algorithm. I miss blogging because it was a little corner of the internet that I could control. Well, assuming I could figure out WordPress, ha.
So I’m reclaiming my own little piece of the internet. I’m going to post my garden, painting, pottery, business, houseplants, and whatever other obsession takes hold. I’m hoping to make it an informative and inspirational journal of sorts. I want to find my people, who love the same kind of things I do. It’s hard to find you in the real world! I’m hoping to add video—both kids will be in elementary school starting this fall, so the world is my oyster.
I’m not planning to follow a strict posting schedule, I will only post when I have something worth sharing. Quality over quantity. Comment and tell me how you like to be notified about new blog posts. I could start a newsletter list and send out an email when I post, set up push notifications option, or just share on social media when I’ve got something new. The blogs I read now I click through from their instagram link after seeing a teaser image. How about you?
I’m so pleased to see you back blogging, your Wit and Whistle blog was one of my favourites as I was finishing uni, starting to work as a professional, and settling into married life!
Looking forward to seeing what you do here. Please do post reminders on your Instagram, storeos?
I love this! And I would subscribe to a newsletter instantly!