an aussie in austria

This is a post to my loyal readers. Or my occasional readers. Or anyone that just happens upon my blog at some point. Thank you for checking it out. Thank you for being on this journey with me.

I started this blog for myself. To keep myself occupied while I was unemployed in my first year in Austria. To force myself to write every week. And to keep my mum updated on what I was up to. As a writer I’d always wanted to start a blog, because when I become rich and famous it will be worth a mint, right? I think there’s a lot of ego here… a presumption that I believe my thoughts matter and that people out there, complete strangers many of them, will want to hear what I have to say.

When I set myself a goal of posting one blog per week, I was worried it was too frequent. Wouldn’t I run out of things to say? Yet… something always pops up. I have pages and pages filled with future ideas – pieces I’ve rejected, pieces that are no longer relevant and need to be re-written, and pieces to slot in when I’m having a hard week and I just run out of time.

During the course of this pandemic a few random people have come out of the woodwork and told me that they read my blog. I feel like the pandemic has done that. Encouraged people to reach out when they normally wouldn’t. I remember posting my first ever blog, and being petrified about the response. What would people think? I remember waiting a while before I actually told anyone about it. And what was the response, you ask me? Well, my mum told me it was great. And that’s pretty much it. 

But I’m floored by the fact that even though my blog is not widely read or known, there are people out there, many of whom don’t know me at all, and perhaps more surprisingly, some who do, who actually seem interested in reading what I write. Especially because I spend far more of my time writing my blog than I do reading other people’s blogs. So in some ways I don’t feel that I wholly deserve it.

So I just wanted to say thank you – for reading occasionally, or for reading everything. Thank you for liking my posts or sending me comments. Because I appreciate it. Because it makes me happy, even if that’s because it strokes my ego a little bit. It makes me feel less alone on those days that we all have. It’s exciting to see a spike in my stats and to wonder who the hell in Canada or Malaysia has come across my blog when I can think of zero people I know who actually live there.

Let’s be honest, unless I actually am a secret genius and one of my many unfinished novels becomes a bestseller/movie, this blog is never going to become world famous. I understand the theory and mechanics of attracting new followers and writing marketable content – I do work in marketing, after all – but it’s just not what this blog is about.

This blog is for me. This blog is for you if you want to read it. This blog is about writing what I want to write about, exploring the infinitely exciting events of my life (well, I think so), along with the emotions that go with it. And to keep my friends and family that little bit closer. So if you’re still with me, I hope you continue to enjoy reading it.