Happy 2nd Anniversary, May Richer Fuller Be!

This month marks my blog's second anniversary! I almost let it pass by without saying a thing about it, but I think it's a important to take time to mark significant points in life and this is one of them for me. So hang with me today while I share a few thoughts about this little blog of mine and the blogging world in general. I don't really have any pertinent photos to share today, so I'll throw in a few random faves from my two years of projects to break up the wordiness of this post :).

{upholstered headboard | west elm inspired side table | sunburst mirror}

This post comes at a time when, as I mentioned in Friday's post, it seems as if the blogging world is having a minor freakout. A few of the major names in the design/DIY blogging world are either taking a long hiatus (a la Young House Love) or shutting down altogether. When something like that happens, it makes you think. At least it made me think. I've been doing a lot of thinking lately actually about why this blog exists and why I keep going at it even though I don't have a million followers or make more than a few dollars off of it. I don't have all the answers, but what I do know is that I was made to create and sharing that creativity gives me an opportunity to connect with others who feel the same way or are on the lookout to be inspired to create as well.

{river house tour}

I love writing here, sharing projects, talking about my home and teaching you things, and I think that when you have a love for something the natural outpouring of that is to share it. Blogging is an incredible platform for creative types like me to do just that, and I am so grateful that I have the opportunity to do this. It has also pushed me to my creative limits, increased my imagination and made me want to create a home that I love to share with people - not just in pretty photos, but in real life. My home is something I love to welcome others into and I think the blogging world helped shape that idea in my head long before I started blogging myself. It encouraged me to create a home that I love and to pursue my passions no matter whether I lived in a tiny one bedroom apartment or a grand mansion.

{ikea hack: upholstered expedit}

All that being said though, blogging is hard work. Most anything that's worth doing is, and I'm ok with that. But sometimes I struggle with the incredible amount of time it takes to do a project, photograph it, edit the photos (oh photo editing! you take so much time!), write the post, proofread the post, and finally, finally hit publish...then promote it, social media the heck out of it so people actually SEE it and then wait.

Wait for a response.

And can I be honest with y'all? Sometimes the response isn't what I hope it will be and that's hard to swallow. That's when I can start to doubt myself, doubt my abilities and start to wonder if it's worth it. Should I keep this up? Is it worth the time, effort and energy? I'm certainly not here today to talk about how many pageviews I have or comments I get or pins on Pinterest, but I just wanted to share a little bit about where my head is right now on all this. I simply need to say that it's not all fun with power tools and playing with glue guns while the paint dries on my new piece of chalk-painted furniture. I love it, but it isn't always easy. (Plus, as a side note, this isn't my real job - I have a full time, 40 hour a week job that's completely removed from the creative world!) It's a constant battle to make sure my priorities are in the right place and that I don't get lost in the internet world while real life happens around me.

At this stage in my life, yes, I do think writing May Richer Fuller Be is worth the effort. As I talked about in the first part of the post, I LOVE doing this. Sometimes it's just easy for doubt to creep in when you've put yourself out there for all the internets to see and feel like you're talking to the air. As long as I have sometime to share though, I'm planning to be here. I'm going to keep sharing those little and big projects, experiments in design, life updates, etc., and I'm grateful for each one of you who come here and check in every once in awhile. Thank you.

Thank you, thank you. And if there's anything you think would make your experience here better as a reader, I'd love to know. After all, I write this blog sorta for me, but really, it's for you.

{vintage kitchen cart makeover}

I thought about making this second anniversary post a great long list of "The Best of May Richer Fuller Be" over the past two years, but that really wasn't what was on my heart to write about today. I can't believe it's been two years since I started this journey, and I hope you'll stick around and follow on through the next years with me!