Okay now we have that uber silly and cringe song away I want to celebrate the fact that i've stuck to blogging for 3 years! It has gone by so quick, i'm amazed. It's so fun going back to old posts seeing the products I used to write about and the life updates I did. It feels really cool knowing i've had this blog to document a lot of the big milestones in my life - traveling, university, finishing placement, getting my dog Harvey, graduating, getting my first job etc. Shout out to my ride of dies who have been here reading since the start (you know who you are!) and also to the new readers who have joined in. It's been so fun interacting with all of you, it means a lot.

The highlights...

• Getting to have a creative outlet which is all my own! It's so cool having my own website where i'm the designer, creator, writer, and editor. 
• Getting better with my photography skills - I used to be pretty terrible but these days i'm actually getting a lot of shots I like. I even bought my Canon G7X camera which is my best friend.
• Interacting with other bloggers - there are so many lovely people I have met along the way, all from different countries. It's awesome coming together with people who share common interests. 
• Getting better at makeup! Having my own blog which features A LOT of beauty products has meants my makeup skillz have leveled up. Still not amazing, but a whole lot better than I was.
• Blogger events - i've actually only been to two but the last one was amazing. It was great fun and I got to make quite a few blogger friends :')

"If i'm being completely honest, I don't think there's any space for more bloggers in the industry - everyone is one these days. It's ridiculous.". 

This of course sparked a ton of bloggers tweeting about these comments - people angry that someone so influential could be so discouraging. Since there was a lot of backlash the article has been re-edited and she's changed her stance saying "if someone wants to start, go for it!". Erm...definitely A LOT different from her original quote am-i-right. I don't want to criticize her though, perhaps she just wasn't thinking when she said those comments. I like to believe the best in people.

I guess it is a valid question to ask though: is there space for more bloggers?

She is right, there are so many bloggers these days. Even a few years back having a blog wasn't a common thing and there was a lot less "competition" you could say. Photos used to be grainy phone pictures and people wrote as if no one was reading. These days everything is more pristine and cultivated into suiting the brand a person wants to build. I don't want to generalize things but objectively it does look like blogging has become something where people have realized you can make money off it whereas a few years ago it wasn't so much a thing. When I first started blogging in 2014 I never considered it could be a career pathway, it was just something I did on the side as a fun little hobby. And it still is that for me - I don't make any money off my blog I just do it because I enjoy it and love connecting with other bloggers/readers. For most people it's probably the same - a hobby and creative outlet. Unfortunately there are probably people out there that do it for the freebies and the chance to become the next Zoella.

I kind of miss the early days of blogging if i'm honest. People weren't so phased about stats and there was a nice informality about it. It was a bunch of people doing it because it was something they loved not because it could make them money.

In saying all this I do whole-heatedly believe there is ALWAYS space for more bloggers. Blogging is such a great creative outlet where you're able to express yourself  You can write about things you're passionate about. You can connect with other like-minded people. You can use it as a way of documenting the happenings of life. You can use it to share experiences in which you wouldn't feel comfortable sharing on social media (such as struggles in mental health ect). You can do anything you like as it's YOUR space on the internet to be completely authentic.

So if you're thinking of starting a blog then i'd 100% recommend doing it. If you have been blogging for awhile and are starting to feel discouraged then keep on going if it's still a passion. There will always be space for you. The people I wouldn't encourage are the ones who don't enjoy it but want to do it as a way to get freebies or make money.