A few days ago, I received an email from Ten-Year Covenant, which I joined five years ago, a so-called "organization" that commits to writing a blog for at least ten years.
Suddenly, I remembered that this year is my fifth year of blogging.
I wrote down some thoughts and told myself that it is not easy to persist in blogging. Five years ago, I could see familiar friends and their familiar words. They used to update their blogs at least once a day, or at least once a week. But now, it has changed from weekly updates to monthly updates, or even yearly updates.
Looking Back#
I am the same. On March 17, 2018, when I was still a high school student, although high school studies were busy, I had some thoughts in my mind. When my mind couldn't hold them anymore, I had to write them down. With the idea of "a blog a day," I wrote every day and thought about what to write tomorrow while lying in bed at night. At that time, I used the most traditional method, writing in a notebook first and then publishing it on my blog after I was satisfied. Looking back now, it's really ridiculous. I feel embarrassed to show what I wrote back then to others. But it's also a kind of growth, a unique memory.
In October 2021, I sold my blog along with the domain name and data. It was the most regrettable decision I made in the past five years. I was attracted by temporary benefits and ignored its true value and significance. Although I quickly registered a new domain name and rebuilt my blog, it seems that since then, my motivation and interest in blogging have decreased a lot.
From tinkering with blog themes and plugins in the past to tinkering with blogging platforms or programs now, this is something that most bloggers will experience. One year later, in October 2022, I built a Hugo blog on GitHub Pages by searching for tutorials online and consulting fellow bloggers, and manually migrated the data. It was just a momentary impulse, but Hugo didn't suit me. Three months later, I switched back to WordPress.
These three paragraphs can be considered as important milestones in my past five years. Five years may seem long or short, but a few sentences are enough to summarize it.
Gains#
In these five years, I have created two communities for communication. One is a WeChat group for Chinese bloggers, and the other is a Telegram channel called @FindBlog. The biggest gain from both is that I have met a group of people with similar interests and hobbies, as well as a platform and opportunities for communication. In website construction, there is a term called "friendship link," which is equivalent to "blogging friends" in the blogging community. Without their influence, I wouldn't have continued writing until now. Walking together with a group of people allows us to go further.
Although their update frequency has decreased. Chen Cangjie, now I see more information about him. He discusses various note-taking software in the group, and I was impressed by his evaluation of me as "promising" in his blog, as well as his criticism of WeChat and someone else. Zhang Bo's blog, the domain name and blog name keep changing, he loves to tinker. Whenever he sees something interesting being discussed in the group, he will participate. It's hard to imagine that he is a high school teacher. Liu Jin Sui Yue, an optometrist who often changes domain names and blog names, likes to share knowledge about eyes and glasses, as well as his daily life with his daughter. I got my glasses from him, very professional, but no discount for mentioning my name. A Jun is very active in the group, often expressing his opinions on current affairs. Although I don't always agree with his views, we can still have harmonious exchanges. Writing a blog is a way of communication, and we try to seek common ground while reserving differences. Yiran and Ruo Fei, the two of them have the most cameras and lenses in the group, and I envy them. They can capture beautiful people and scenery with their cameras. Although the latter is no longer in the group, his blog is still being updated. Wang Yikai is a professional writer, with a degree in literature. Reading his blog is like picking up a book in a bookstore and reading it. Now his blog is mostly about parenting diaries. Yang Jingwen, I used to call him senior, but now uncle is more appropriate, after all, he is from the 80s. I found that his blog couldn't be accessed recently, I don't know what he is secretly preparing. He should be the friend who started blogging the earliest and has helped me a lot. Xiong's Cat changes domain names more frequently than changing clothes. Each domain name is unique. Because I knew him as Xiong's Cat, I thought he was a chubby person, but later I saw his photo and found out that he is a slim and handsome guy. huntrue and the previous friend often have heated and exciting discussions in the group. They are interesting friends. 1900, after watching "The Legend of 1900," I named my blog 1900. He likes cycling and fitness. Recently, it seems that he is tinkering with Emby. San Ding, his blog is called "Little Pig's Nest" in Chinese, and I always thought he was chubby. I don't know if it's true. When it comes to him, I think of a keyword - ex-girlfriend. Austin, one of the few friends who is about the same age as me, is particularly amazing. It's enviable to have technical skills. Lao Yang, his blog is very rich in content, covering various topics. He is also very active in the group, discussing digital and electronic products non-stop. Yun Ding Tian, this uncle hasn't updated for more than half a year. I guess he is busy with photography and videography. I occasionally see videos of him and his family and friends going camping in the group and his moments. Hu Ji, it's a kind of fate to meet someone with the same surname in the blogging community. There is an inexplicable sense of closeness. When I was filling in my college application after the college entrance examination, he kept recommending schools to me. Da Wei, a fitness coach, left the WeChat group because of busy work. My initial impression of him was a photo on his blog. We rarely have contact now, and his blog cannot be accessed. I don't know if he is writing on another platform. I have a wish to meet all the people mentioned above in person and have a gathering. I hope it can come true soon.
...
Of course, there are many other friends I have communicated with, but I can't describe them one by one. I just introduced some active friends in the group. Each person's blog is like a solitary island. We visit each other, leave comments, and gradually transform from strangers to friends, from isolated islands to archipelagos. We share different lives, different perspectives, and different preferences. In this process, I have learned things beyond books and classrooms. For me, this is the greatest significance and gain of blogging.
Experience#
Five years ago, I was searching for various tutorials online, learning how to use servers, install control panels, and install WordPress. Five years later, I am more familiar with these aspects, and I have gained more and updated knowledge about blogging. I record and share them.
A phenomenon that is often seen is that when you don't know what to write, you write about how to build a blog. As a result, you can find various blog building tutorials online. I think what you write is not important, the key is to write, to persist in writing. Don't write with a utilitarian attitude, just write down your true thoughts and the content you want to record. Don't worry about whether what you write is meaningful or not. We can't guarantee that everything we do is meaningful. Daring to write, daring to record, is itself a remarkable thing. Don't let our thoughts dissipate with the wind, don't let our lives exist only in memories. That's what I think is the meaning of blogging.
I am not someone who likes to use images, maybe because I can't find suitable images to accompany my words. If something can be described clearly with words, I try not to use images. Although aesthetics is important, I believe more in the charm of words. By learning Markdown, I have discovered a different way of writing, which greatly improves my efficiency and allows me to enter a so-called immersive writing state.
When it comes to choosing a blogging platform, there are also many opinions and viewpoints. I have faced such choices. Take WordPress and Hugo as examples. The difference between the two lies in the cost (both money and learning) involved. People without coding experience, like me, are more suitable for using WordPress. After using it for five years, I am more familiar with it and don't need to input any code. On the other hand, Hugo is more suitable for programmers. Today, I wanted to deploy Hugo on Cloudflare Pages, but just dealing with Git gave me a headache. In the end, I continued to use WordPress honestly.
My experience may not apply to everyone. If it can help friends who want to write or are currently writing blogs, I would be honored.
Finally, keep writing, persist in reading and writing, persist in input and output. Because in today's society, persistence is a precious thing.
An email brought my thoughts back to five years ago. I roughly described it in over three thousand words, and it also reignited my passion for blogging. Looking forward to meeting again in the 10th year of blogging!