Let’s talk about that ‘W’ word

Today I’m going to keep things a little short and sweet. The aim of this post is to make you meditate and think about how it applies to you. I’m going to talk about the ‘why’ word.

A lot of people in the social media industry have recently been opening up about their breaks from social media. The reason is simple…they lost their why.

I’ve struggled with this too. It’s absolutely normal. I mean, just think of all the TEDx talks given or self-help books written about finding your why; finding your purpose. Everybody struggles with finding what their purpose is. We all desperately seek meaning for the things we do. It’s so essential. It’s easy to get lost and confused when you don’t know your why.

For me, it’s been the ‘why blog’ question. The answers to this question have changed within the past year, I guess, in line with me growing up and changing too. However, the main ones remain the same. Firstly, a big part of why I began was to prove to myself that I can start and maintain a big project on my own. Particularly one that I’m passionate about. As a person, I always have big dreams and ideas, but they tend to remain just that…never being implemented. Putting up Kenyanbelle did wonders for me on that front. I don’t fear big projects anymore, I actually look forward to them.

The second reason is known (y’all should have checked my about page by now- lol!), I didn’t think there was a blog out there that shared everything under the sun that would be interesting to young Kenyan girls like myself. All I could find were specialized blogs. Hence, here we are. 🙂

For the most part, I was okay with these reasons being the answers to my ‘why’. Up until I began getting questions along the lines of “when are you going to commercialise your blog?” or ”have you started making money?” or ”why haven’t you started doing promos or hunting for companies to advertise their products?” My answers to these was simply, a polite smile and a quick “that’s not my main focus for the blog right now”. The response would be the same: an odd look of misunderstanding and a reluctant acceptance of my answer.?

Yes, I know that most of these questions were well-intended but what I was reading from them is that my own personal reasons were not enough. It felt like I was wasting my time just because I was blogging for fun. So in turn, I began overthinking my posts which resulted in me slowing down on blog content as I was never fully satisfied with the drafts.

It took me a while to realise it but with plenty of help from my friends and some much-needed inward reflection, I got it. Fast-forward to a few months down the line and here I am, with a newly found acceptance for doing what is okay with me solely because it makes sense to me. I urge you too, to find this acceptance of your why.

Denim jacket – Nairobi Apparel District

Sweater dress – Atmosphere

Ankle boots – Zara

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— Ivy xx