I am so delighted to be able to welcome Bridget from Bridie By The Sea as my first ever guest for the new Inspire Me series!
I have always admired Bridget’s knack of keeping things real. Her blog is packed full of punchy posts that are so refreshingly open and honest. Her steady and reassuring writing keeps everyone coming back for more and I for one can’t wait to find out what inspires her.
Quick fire questions are so much fun but can also tell us so much about how someone thinks. Let’s see how Bridget got on.
What do you think? You certainly can’t go wrong with tea and cake.
Right… let’s find out what makes this top blogger tick, and hopefully pick up some inspiration on the way. Over to you Bridget.
I started a food blog in 2012 and absolutely loved it, as it helped me get through a strange few months when I had to cut gluten, dairy and wheat from my diet for health reasons. As a chocoholic, it was devastating! I was blown away by how lovely the blogging community was but as life went on and my health improved, I stopped blogging. I thought about it again when I became a Mum and it has given me the same creative outlet that I love.
My confidence to just write. In the first few months of blogging, I felt so self-conscious about what I was writing and worried that it was all a load of rubbish. But as I’ve met more people and read more blogs, I’ve realised that everyone has their unique voice and there’s space for us all in this blogging world. Now I just be myself and write for me.
When I was growing up, I had endless notepads with my thoughts, kind of like a ‘daily braindump’. This sort of began my love of stationery and I have endless notepads! But despite this I always write straight onto the WordPress post; I find it easier when I write on the train and it seems to flow much easier.
I go through ups and downs with writing – some weeks I have lots of ideas and am writing often, and then other weeks there is just zilch going on. But one thing is a constant: I always write in the evenings. At the moment, I am writing lots on the train when I am travelling to and from work – it’s a 90 minute journey each way and feels great to be using the time for my blog. Other than that, I love sitting in the armchair in our living room with no other distractions.
I usually write 3 blog posts a week and try to get these written over the weekend so I’m not having to think about it when I’m at work. My inspiration usually comes from every day life with my family, but I also try and incorporate events during the year. I’m looking forward to writing about Chinese New Year soon!
This happens to me so often! I used to get really stressed about it but now I just roll with it. If I’m really stuck for ideas, I’ll just leave the blog for a while and gradually I find something inspiring to write about. I hate the idea of my blog becoming like work, something I have to do, and it seems to work well to just wait for that lightbulb to switch on again. I tend to have periods when I have quite a few ideas, so try to write them out and have a few posts stored up for the days when inspiration takes a back seat.
To me, they are the ultimate hard workers, always striving and chipping away at something they love. Every word a blogger writes is because they wanted to, and it usually comes from the heart. I also really believe that they are the voices that don’t get shown in the media these days and slowly they are being recognised for it. As parents, we show what life is really like without any sugar coating.
Beauty Baby and Me is just so positive and really wears her heart on her sleeve. Reading Fi’s blog is like chatting to your best friend, who always makes you feel like you’re not alone when you have a really rubbish day.
Five Little Doves is one of the first blogs I ever read and just so beautiful. I couldn’t think of anything more inspirational than Laura’s story and how she has dealt with everything in her life.
A Mum Track Mind is one of my must read blogs. Fi has also just returned back to work and I feel like she is my kindred spirit; everything she writes describes how I feel about motherhood since working again.
Your niche is YOU! I know everyone’s heard it, but what a relief it was to hear this. I spent many hours worrying about my niche and how I just hadn’t found it. As the months go on and I write more, I completely agree with this statement. My personality comes out more in the my writing and that’s what makes my blog completely different to anyone elses.
I love the quote “though she may be little, she is fierce” – I am a littl’un at only 5 foot 2 but this one always resonates with me on a much deeper level too. When I started blogging, I quickly felt like this teeny tiny fish in a humungous pond…I felt so overwhelmed. But soon I realised that my blog might not be big, but it’s all me and that makes it pretty awesome.
You can read more from Bridget by visiting Bridie By The Sea and following her on twitter, instagram, facebook and pinterest.
The Inspire Me guest series will be running over the coming weeks. It will be featuring some of my favourite bloggers. From the queen bee’s themselves, to the much newer bloggers on the scene. All have that elusive something that you can’t quite put your finger on that makes them stand out from the crowd, as well as being key inspirers.
WILD is now out in Spanish!
WILD – Our debut children’s picture book
Dad blogger Ross Good from The Stented Papa is the official storyteller for WILD!
Happy book birthday WILD!
I’m exactly the same – notepads everywhere! Loved reading this and thank you so much for including me xx
Awww thank you so much for mentioning me, that’s so lovely of you!! I love the idea of this series, I am super nosy so I love to read more about other bloggers, especially ones who I follow and admire! xxx
I think you’re absolutely right Bridget! It’s so easy to get hung up on finding your niche, but actually your niche is just being yourself. I’m also a total stationery lover, which I think is why I head straight to WordPress to draft too, as I couldn’t bear to do so much scribbling out in an actual notebook haha. This is such an interesting series Annette xx