As I mentioned last week, I started this blog as a way for me to track my progress with fibromyalgia. Living with chronic illness is far from being easy and writing has always been a coping mechanism for me. As well as being something that I enjoy, writing allows me to process and understand my thoughts. It helps me to make sense of what I am going through and enables me to work through my emotions. I have found many benefits through having this blog. It first and foremost gives me a focus and a sense of purpose. But it has also brought me some great opportunities and connected me with amazing people.

The great thing about blogging is that it is really easy to get started and anyone can do it. You don’t need to be a brilliant writer to blog. The most popular post on this website is “10 struggles people with chronic illness will understand“; a post with the lowest word count out of all the blog posts I have written. If you have something to say and a unique voice, then people will be interested in what you write.

Blogging is something that is incredibly popular now. The world is saturated with blogs. This might make you think you should jump on the bandwagon and start your own and I would encourage anyone interested to go ahead and do so! However, I also realise that blogging won’t be for everyone. Here I am going to share what I believe to be the benefits of blogging and the brilliant reasons you should start your own blog. Then I am also going to share a few suggestions on how to get the most out of blogging, though these are just my personal opinion!

The Benefits Of Blogging

01. It connects you with like-minded individuals

I do not know anyone else with fibromyalgia. Through having Fibro Geek and the social media accounts associated with the blog, I have made contact with so many amazing people that are living with chronic illness. There is something to be said for talking to people who totally get what you are going through. I am very thankful to say that I have made a number of friends online who have provided me with much needed support.

02. A blog provides you with an outlet

As I mentioned above, writing is a powerful coping tool. It helps you to process your own thoughts and emotions and helps you to work through your problems. Writing encourages you to do a lot of thinking and explore thoughts and ideas you might not have contemplated before. Life with chronic illness is far from being easy and blogging has been a massive help for me. It has helped me to change my whole outlook and to also become more accepting of my situation. Not only that, but if you connect with other people through blogging, an entire network of help and support will open up for you too.

03. It acts as a personal journal

A blog is a great way to record and look back on everything you have done and achieved. Brain fog can make remembering things difficult so blogging takes the worry out of that. Of course you won’t be sharing every little detail on a public blog but you are likely to share the important things. Take last year for example. My poor health dominated half of the year. I could have easily thought negatively of 2014. By reading back through this blog, I realised that I had actually achieved a hell of a lot despite my health!

04. It is a fun hobby that also helps you to develop new skills

Blogging is really enjoyable and is a fun hobby to have. Not only that, but it helps you to develop new or existing skills. Through continually writing blog posts you will become a better writer. You will also become more thoughtful and reflective about your life as writing about it forces you to think more deeply. Blogging can help you to set and focus on the goals you want to achieve. If you throw yourself fully into blogging, you can also learn skills in photography, marketing, communication, planning and time management. Plus a few more skills I probably don’t even realise!

05. A blog can bring you great opportunities

I never in a million years thought that I would gain anything from blogging beyond the benefits that I get on a personal level. If you work hard, blogging can bring you opportunities that you other wise may never have come across. If I did not have this blog, I can probably say with certainty that I wouldn’t have read “Suffered Long Enough“. I therefore would not have connected with the company Vital Plan and would not be following their Restore Program. I have not only done all of those things (and benefited immensely for it) but I have been able to connect with the author of the book and founder of company Dr. Rawls. Dr. Rawls has honestly given me so much help and support, that I am incredibly thankful for, and has helped me to get my health back on track.

How To Get The Most Out Of Blogging

01. Avoid complaining

As I said above, a blog is an outlet for us and it is a great way to work through our emotions. Having said that, I would advise to try your best not to complain or to write overly negative posts. I have come across a lot of blogs that publish negative post after negative post. I do think that writing about your problems can be cathartic to an extent but I also believe that negativity and complaining does no one any good. I fully admit that I cannot read blogs like that as it brings me down. I personally believe that to get the most out of blogging, you should use it as a tool to change your focus away from your symptoms.

I appreciate that we can’t be positive all of the time and sure, the reality of fibro is damn hard, but I personally find that focussing on my symptoms, or how hard I have it, makes my situation feel even worse. That’s not to say that I shy away from writing about the truth. Rather, I use my writing to help me keep things in perspective or I challenge myself to think about what I can do to improve my situation. Occasionally, I will talk about negative things but use humour as I did in this post. I find working through my problems much more beneficial than simply having a moan. Each to their own though!

02. Don’t compare yourself to others

Although lots of people start a blog for themselves, many will start one to share their story with other people. It pays to remember that no blog published on the internet is truly ‘private’, unless you password protect your posts. Blogs can be a fantastic way to share your experiences and help other people as well as yourself. If you are thinking of the latter then please do not compare yourself to other bloggers or expect too much too soon. Blogging is hard work and it takes time to connect with people and build a following. The most successful blogs (with the exception of a few) have been around for a number of years and have steadily grown to where they are now. With hard work and patience you will achieve what you want to with your blog. Don’t give up too soon.

03. Write in a way that not only helps you, but others too

Even though I started Fibro Geek for me, I have always written this blog as though I am speaking to someone. I just found it an easier writing style to adopt. Now that people actually do read the blog, my writing has evolved. I am more mindful about including posts that (hopefully) people will get something from; sharing tips and advice that I have learned, for example, or sharing my personal experiences that I hope will help other people too. This doesn’t just help other people though, it helps me too. It forces me to think more about what I am writing. I often write about things I am going through and try to take the approach of “if I was to give advice to someone else about this situation, what would I say?” This not only helps me to work through things for myself but it also has the potential to help others too… or at least that’s my thinking!

04. Join social media

If you want to connect with people then social media is the best way to do it. You don’t need to sign up for everything, even one or two accounts is a good place to start. Twitter is one of the best in my opinion, as there is a brilliant community of people with chronic illness on there. I set up Twitter first and it was the only one I used for a while. Then this year that I decided to join Instagram (love it!), Pinterest and Facebook.

05. Connect with other bloggers

I would say this one is actually really important and getting support from other bloggers is so helpful and beneficial. Not only for your blog (you can both promote each other’s content) but on a personal level too. Bloggers are a great bunch!! I became friends with Julie from Counting My Spoons after doing an interview with her for her fibro warrior feature. I had long admired her blog and kept up contact with her via email. Other bloggers I connect with on social media. I have been asked to guest post on blogs, which is a great opportunity to get to know a blogger and also get your name out there.

I hope you have found this post useful. Is there anything else you would add? Please share in the comments below.