Six Month Check Up: How Blogging Has Impacted Me

Right before bed the other night, I came up with a great calendar for posts each week.  As I climbed into bed, I considered writing it down but swore I would remember it.  So here I am, NOT remembering it.  I do this routinely, as I’m sure we all do, but right now it’s kicking me in the ass.  Sometimes, I’m just really disorganized….any who….

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It’s been six months since I truly began writing here, and it’s been a great experience thus far. In the last six months, I’ve been able to organize some of my thoughts on past experiences, my disorder, and my outlook on several different things [even though the above would suggest otherwise]. The past six months have truly helped.

1. I don’t feel as anxious as normal. – I feel more calm and at ease with things since I started blogging.
2. I’ve been able pin point triggers for my anxiety and panic attacks. – I used to be unable to find the starting point to any attack.  They seemed to come out of nowhere and I never knew what to do to calm them.  In the past few months, I’ve at least been able to pinpoint 3 triggers and situations that cause my anxiety to fluctuate.
3. Self-realization – I have been able to better learn who I am, and I’m discovering what is right for me. I’m finding what is acceptable to me during this process.

I never expected that  blogging could create an impact.  You always hear how journaling helps, but I had a hard time sticking to a writing schedule when I was journaling.  Perhaps since it was just myself that would be reading it?  Blogging gave me a dedicated schedule, even if just weekly, in order to air my feelings and thoughts. It’s kept me accountable and really on track with circling back with myself.

I’ve gotten a ridiculous amount of support, which I wasn’t actually counting on.  I didn’t really expect to have people that interested in what I was going on about.  But thank you all so much for your fantastic comments and feedback. It’s been truly special learning that there are others who have thoughts and feelings  similar to my own. Knowing I’m not alone has been incredible, and it has really made an impact on me.  I used to walk around feeling “crazy” when I tried to express my feelings, almost at fault for having them; now I’m aware that these feelings are common.  More people experience them than not.

I’m looking forward to continuing this for another six months and seeing the progress I’ve made, the topics I’ve discussed and what resonated with me of the course of the year.  I’m hoping to become a bit more organized with my post, may be even get that schedule made.  That will be, of course, after the summer and when things calm down.  While I’m nervous, I can’t wait to see what the next six months have in store.