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THIS POST IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY LOWER OFFICIAL BUT ALL OPINIONS ARE MY OWN.
I’ve been wanting to write this post all week but alas I’ve been quite the mess. My dog, MaQ, even though seems to be his good cherry self, has had some kind of skin infection (or so it seemed) but after a vet visit and the blood work came back, his albumin levels were lower than they should be. So tomorrow we will be going in to have an abdominal ultrasound to further investigate the problem. I PRAY that there’s nothing serious, but given the fact this is the first time my baby is not well (internally) I want to be safe rather than sorry. And in doing so, I’ve been super anxious all week, to the point where I canceled all my meetings, events… everything. I know a lot will disagree, that the world keeps on ticking, but he’s more than just a dog to me. He’s my child and without him I’m not sure what’s left of me. Most have been incredibly supportive (and THANK you for the uplifting msgs/comments/etc;) but what’s been going on with MaQ lately has me thinking a lot about the future, and what that entails of in the blogging world and which direction I would like to take. Continue reading for more on my thoughts on this rather difficult subject and my fears for what lies ahead.
On a daily basis I receive approximately 10-15 invitations to press previews, launch events, and then some where in the start to my career in blogging, I accepted almost every invitation to network and expand my business. But now coming up on four years in August, I am highly selective with my time. Many of these events are to fill the room, as in to make it look like the event is lively and engaging, I get that, and in turn we, as bloggers show up for support and networking abilities but how many times do we really connect with others (business-wise) at an event where nearly everyone is drinking alcohol, bringing their +1’s because they need a hand to hold and gossip with, only to never really be as proactive as one can be during such a place and time. I rarely see strangers starting up conversations, and more so the cliquey groups I detested in high school. Don’t get me wrong, you can connect while boozing, I’m sure, but in all likelihood, it’s not going to happen. Especially when there’s hundreds of people in the room. I’m more about intimate gatherings, or one-on-one meetings where you have a better chance in what I’m talking about. I’m not the type of person who likes to see and be seen. Frankly, I don’t give a shit and would rather be in the comfort of my own home in my pj’s snuggled up with my dog.
It’s also the experience that comes with. I actually hate being called an influencer, because I don’t consider to be one. When you see others talking in selfie form on stories and load after load of unboxings, gifts, press trips, and always THE SAME OLE’ THING, it’s gets old relatively fast. I don’t even like to tell others I’m a blogger because of first impressions. Many have given the blogging label a bad rep, and I hate to have fallen in to that category because I’m far from it. I’m first and foremost a writer. I tend to forget at times due to the very difficult career path and yes, it’s not easy at all. But after being a writer, I consider myself a creative director and stylist who wants to further concentrate my energy into creation - such as fashion editorials, photo essays and more. It’s been a while since I wrote my last body of work, and to be quite honest, I haven’t jumped back on the wagon quite yet because of fear and the pressures of what comes next after writing your first book. It’s terrifying. I do have a number of ideas, but in recent years have lost a lot of confidence, therefore feeling very uncertain about the future. All I know is I definitely don’t see myself posting OOTD’S for the rest of my life, lol. So where do I go from here?
But after the past week with what’s going on with MaQ, it has put many things in perspective. My family comes first, because without them I’m nothing. They mean everything to me, and if anyone doesn’t seem to quite understand that, they can stick it where the sun doesn’t shine. I’m serious. “When the snows fall and the white winds blow, the lone wolf dies but the pack survives.” My favorite Game of Thrones quote, it’s the epitome of what family means to me. We are better together rather than alone. I would love to add to our family, but that’s a long story and a whole other blog post alone. And even though it’s my '“job” to share a lot of my life to you all, I couldn’t disagree more. I’m like the Keanu Reeves of blogging. I relish in my privacy. And will keep it that way. Never hurts to leave a little mystery behind.
I’m sure you have heard by now but if you haven’t, Instagram is considering hiding the amount of likes on everyone’s account. And I think this is wonderful. Talk about healthy engagement. Because it never should be about the numbers, but the CONTENT. Is it good quality? Does it tell a story? Does it transport me to somewhere? And I think this idea would be greatly beneficial to the younger generation, where studies have shown the toxicity within social media and how validation plays such a terrible role. I mean, how many times have you felt bad when a post bombed? I know I have. I would like to focus on slow-creation as I term it, where back in the Avedon/Penn days, photographs/content would take a lot of time. Nothing was digital and the appreciation after waiting for the final product was always worth it. Nowadays, we can’t seem to go fast enough. And it’s exhausting, fully saturated with so many doing the exact same concept (YAWN) or even worse, just ripping off one another’s ideas. And yes, everything comes from somewhere but the way we interpret it is key. So I’m focusing on advancing in videography (something I’m good at but hate doing lol) where we can start to evolve our content into something fresh and new again. I will also be taking more focus on my writing,
I used to have trepidations of not staying consistent on the gram. Meaning, if I didn’t post everyday, I was in serious trouble! OMG, how ridiculous does that sound?! I would rather have my audience wait and appreciate the work rather than nonstop photos of outfits, events, etc; where it just gets to be too much and no one can really concentrate on the work, which is most important to me. That’s another reason I don’t post as much on stories either anymore because I find it creepy sharing your every move. And who really cares what you’re having for dinner? Unless you’re a major public figure like Angelina Jolie, you got me. I will keep my presence online, but will definitely not be posting everyday of the week anymore, which I have been doing for several months now.
So, while I have some projects I am really going to concentrate on for the remainder of the year, I would love to know from my readers on what you’d like to see me cover more on my social media platforms. Don’t worry - I will still post, go to (some) events and live my life, but what would you want to see more of? Fashion? Writing on more serious topics? Beauty? Travel? Pet lifestyle? Maybe some crime? Or still maybe a little bit of everything? I would love to have some feedback from you guys to better assess our future content. Thanks for stopping by and reading! Don’t forget to drop your comments down below and chime in on what you’d like to see more of on MaQ + Suz! Until next time, wish us luck tomorrow at MaQ’s sonogram and keep sending those positive vibes! Nothing but Love & Light to you all. xx
LOVE & XX’S,
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