Two Whats and a Blog Berry Tree

It may come to you as a surprise, but I am not the first person to write a blog nor will I be the last.  In November there were over 69.5 million posts just on Wordpress.com alone.  That’s more than 5 times the amount of pokémon caught for the last festival mission, and three times as many pokémon that have been traded online over the last month!  That is not including Wordpress.org, Blogger, Tumblr, Squarespace or even Weebly, the host I am currently using.

If there are more voices out there than pokémon, why just be another echoing voice in the battle?

What inspired me to start this blog?
Over the last year, I have been odor sleuthing for some new personal finance blogs to read and have been really enjoying the variety.  There was one blogger who really planted the Blog Berry in my soft soil was Millennial Money Man.  (Don't be dirty)  At least once a month he mentions that everyone should try starting a blog.  Thus, he sprinkled that Blog Berry monthly while my mind provided it sunlight to help it sprout.

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About three months ago, I was at dinner with some friends who are a part of a Meetup group where we get together and discuss our life experiences as bisexuals.  The conversation moved to a discussion about writing blogs and I told them I was thinking about it.  They asked me what I wanted to write about and I responded personal finances for millennials, healthy-ish living, bisexual awareness, and Pokémon.  The response was mixed.  They thought it was too broad, and I agreed with them.  As the conversation continued and I half-listened to their stories, I other-half- thought about my imaginary future blog.  With some magic sparkles, the Blog Berry plant grew taller.  The way to write about all of these ideas together is to just write about my experiences as a pokémon trainer since millennials are the first generation of pokémon trainers.

Great, I had my overall concept!  I began talking to people at work and other friends trying to figure out what the hardest part of “adulting” is for them and everything seemed to come back to personal finances.  Although the concept of talking about a variety of topics still appeals to me, it was becoming more obvious that I should focus writing about personal finances for now, and occasionally write variety posts for a nice change of pace.

Besides, personal finance was what first led me to want to blog in the first place and not just because of M$M’s encouragement.  A lot of blogs I read give great advice, but about half of it is difficult to apply to my current situation. I know and understand what I should be doing, but putting it into practice is harder than in theory.

Save 5% of every paycheck… I tried that one month, and after paying my bills each paycheck I had less than 2% to do so.  (Maybe why my net worth is not a positive number)

Stop using my credit cards… but after ten years developing a bad relationship with my credit cards, it’s a lot harder to just cut them up to stop me from using them.  What if I need them!?  Not everyone can quit cold turkey.  (Definitely why my net worth is a negative number)

I started researching about starting a blog and started working on art direction and design for the blog.  After a couple of weeks, I had basic ideas figured out and a logo.  Things were coming together quite nicely and timely.

These Blog flowers bloomed the Monday before Pokémon Sun and Moon were released.  I was at work and it critically hit me, if I actually got something up on the internet, I could pass out business cards to promote the blog while waiting in line for the games.  I was sure there would be hundreds of people there.

I worked my ass off that week to get everything to a reasonable state.  I needed a substitute while I figured out my next moves, so I created a welcome page and an about page.  I started some chatter using Facebook and opened my first accounts for Twitter and Instagram. (Still learning how to use these) I also opened a survey (still open) to get some more foresight on what my target audience is interested in.  Finally, I printed the fissure of the moveset, some business cards to pass out.  I knew that I couldn’t possibly launch the site in one week, so I picked January 5, 2017 to have time to finish the site in a responsible and timely fashion.

Since then, these Shadow Sneak Peeks have been my weekly sprinkling the Blog Berry tree to bear fruit.  I have been growing my voice and getting more comfortable with writing.  My art direction is continuing to grow, but at a slower rate and allowing for more elaborate pictures.  The actual technical aspects are becoming difficult, but I will give Weebly a call while on vacation and get that settled.  However, the best part of all is I’m having fun!  I am so excited for when the Blog Berries are ready to be picked.  I’m sure there will be like 14 to 20.

What do I hope to get out of this blog?
First, I want to help reach other trainers and/or millennials to get them interested in their personal finances and future goals.  We’re a generation of working together, bouncing ideas off one another and helping each other out.  If I can start that dialogue with some people by sharing my experiences, I can hopefully learn from them as they learn from me.

Second, I want to use it as a creative outlet for myself.  I am a person who needs to have a reason to create, draw, write, edit, research, etc.  Without accountability, I struggle to do it although I truly enjoy it.  (like exercising) I also manage my time better when I'm being active.  Otherwise, I just come home after work and watch four hours of tv and eat a bag of potato chips or a pint of ice cream until bedtime.

Third, I want to practice my art.  I love creating art, but I need deadlines, an audience, inspiration and a reason to it.  That’s why I went to school to get a Master’s Degree in Costume Design.  Costume design allows me to create with all of those principles in mind with the added bonus of collaborating with fellow artists, another favorite!  I have already been enjoying the benefits of the blog in this regard.

Fourth, I want to improve my writing.  I have been told I am a pretty good writer, but it takes me forever to write something.  This blog post you’re reading right now took about 8 hours to write.  I am hoping that with more practice, I will get faster.  I hope this skill carries over to writing e-mails because I dislike taking an hour to write a four-sentence response… true story.

Finally, I want to share my love and enjoyment for Pokémon with other people, whether they share the same enthusiasm or not.  I would like to create a place for old fans, new fans, and no fans to get together and connect with one another.
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Why are you reading my blog?  Is there anything you would like to get out of this blog?