We’re going back to blogging
I don’t know what’s gotten into me but I’ve been playing with the idea of a Substack newsletter for weeks now and thought that it might add value to the brand I’m currently building—the Mspire Studio.
At Mspire Studio, I get to put my best self forward, advocating what I value (intentional living, health and wellness) alongside creative self-expression through digital planning and journaling. It couldn’t be more perfect. I’ve had a vision for Mspire Studio for a long as I can remember. However, as good as it sounds, it can still feel very constrained and curated.
So I needed a space to show you what really goes behind the scenes with lots of messy trial-and-error (a.k.a. mistakes), but also lots of delicious creativity (this, I like). So welcome to my personal website/blog.
I Pined For Old School Blogging
Recently, I kept browsing through my old blog, Maysadventures—a blog I started in 2014 and managed to keep alive until 2018. Initially I created this travel & adventure blog when I just moved back to Cebu after living in Manila for 8 years (for college and some early years of corporate work). I loved being back in my hometown Cebu and felt like I had a lot of catching up to do when it came to seeking adventures within my own city.
I also created the Maysadventures blog as a way to keep in touch with my friends from Manila, hopefully to tease them to see more of my province and grant me a visit one time, and luckily, they did. My best friend Maetrix visited… while my closest friends from my college block Ariz, Kat and Aggi also visited me and… we ended up having a great time one Holy Week in Cebu! I managed to live my travels twice through adventure blogging at Maysadventures…
But you leave me to my own devices, and I ended up abandoning my blog in 2018.
I’m currently in a similar (somewhat) situation in life right now, having just moved back to Australia 4 months ago, after moving back to Cebu just 8 months prior that, after living in Sydney for 2 years to finish my master’s degree… I’ve had so much activity that I have so much stories to tell (or write about), so here we are.
From Wanting To Be De-influenced of Substack to Having A Self-Hosted Blog
Just yesterday, I did the unthinkable and started my very first self-hosted blog on WordPress.org —a place where I now plan to put all of my life’s (creative) work. And because that means freedom, it’ll come with a side of endless yaps about life. Hehe.
Instead of consuming content on social media, I’m turning some of that energy into creating my own content. Not utilising the latest, trending AI tool… but using the most underrated tool in the online space these days. THE brain. Mine.
I’m planning to build this one brick by brick, or if I may, blogpost by blogpost. With so much creative juices juicing, I come with both optimism and some caution (read: hope I don’t get burn out).
I’ve had a feeling that long-form content and blogging is going to have it’s time under the sun again (well, hopefully) & if not, this isn’t just FOMO for me, nor me trying to jump on another bandwagon. This is me 22 years later since I first started blogging (at 16 y.o.) and joining nearly every trending online channel reclaiming every piece of content I’ve published in random places, and rebuilding them again, but on my very own website.
It feels like buying my very first property (it’s empty), after renting for 22 years. That’s the simplest analogy I could think of having your own self-hosted personal website. It screams building my house on my own lot, one piece of furniture at a time.
Get in friends, we’re going back to blogging.