Why do I blog? 10 Surprising Life Lessons from a Self-Confessed Blogaholic
Diary of a Muzungu. Ggaba landing site. PHOTO Isabel Romano, Diario de Abordo
1. Blogging is my friend.
2. Blogging is my creative outlet.
3. Blogging is my personal space when things in my life don’t work out the way I want them to.
Perception versus reality
4. Blogging = time out…
Blogging is my arena in which to:
5. … make mistakes
6. … win new clients
7. … make new friends
8. … learn new skills
9. … tell the world WHAT AN AMAZING PLACE UGANDA IS.
We all have to start somewhere…
I was a blogger before blogging was invented.
At boarding school, I wrote long letters home. When I was a teenager, I kept a secret diary (well, I thought I did, until – horror of horrors – my mum revealed some years later that she had read it!)
When I traveled, I wrote long letters home. When my relationship was going nowhere, I kept a secret diary.
When I gave up my old life in London to leave for Uganda, I started writing my blog – even before I’d started packing my suitcase.
A few of my many Uganda diaries. Diary of a Muzungu
A blog – an online Diary – of a Muzungu was the natural progression.
[I’m embarrassed at its ordinariness now but this was my first ever blog post, in 2008. And my mum was the first to comment – don’t mums rock?]
Stop making excuses Just-Do-It
10. A blogger has no time to be bored – the next story beckons. There are always ideas to research, to mull over, to discuss with friends.
11. “Are you writing about this in your Diary?” – has been an invitation to:
– go gorilla trekking in Rwanda
– meet the Omukama [traditional tribal King] at his Palace in Bunyoro, western Uganda
– attend the VIP launch of the inaugural Kampala Art Biennale
– meet my totem – the Red Tailed Monkey – in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest
– experience Uganda’s solar eclipse! …
and so many other life-affirming East African experiences.
Some people spend a lifetime searching – but I Have Found My Niche and it is here in Uganda.
The five year evolution of my blog – from crappy updates on Blogger to self-hosted WordPress Wow!ness – reflects the development of my own aspirations and my professionalism as a blogger.
Diary of a Muzungu charts my progress. It shows me that if you really want something…
12. … JUST DO IT.
NEVER NEVER NEVER Give Up, said Winston Churchill. By Jove, he was spot on.
You don’t even need to put on those fake trainers 😉
Just Do It trainer heels
Dear Ms Bloggy
I must comment. I do still have some funny letters from school. I’m keeping them for you. But which mum was that who read your secret diary? Or was that poetic licence? Love to read your secret diaries, they’d probably make a good book.
Do hope the pennies will turn into pounds soon, you deserve it
Which mum was that? lol x
that moment you talked about the Horror of Horrors i better keep my diaries in a safe some family members thought me of acting girly, a boy keeping a diary is some how one of the rarest thing here in UG…………..i love ur writing have learnt alot from your work here it has helped me to revamp my blog too
Hi Arthur, well my mum denies reading my diaries, so I have to believe her! lol.
Writing a diary is more of a girly thing. I think guys ‘keep notes’ or ‘write journals’ – you just give a different name to it don’t you? Thanks for the appreciation. I’ve been writing Diary of Muzungu for six years now so I’ve learned a lot along the way. Still more changes planned … mpola mpola … You’re very welcome to write a guest post.
Great story! Makes me wish I could put more time to blogging – love to do it but can’t seem to settle down to type out a full post.
Thanks! with me, blogging is borderline obsession – who needs sleep anyway?!
Nostalgia. Nostalgia. I am nostalgic. Got to get right back and live a free flowing, mindless, careless, carefree, reckless but fulfilling life that blogging can be.
Hi there, When you write and it’s flowing, that’s the happiest feeling in the world. Carefree maybe – not so sure about reckless! Think I’m too much of a perfectionist at times…
Not really dear……
I have been following you on FB and love your pics but they are mostly of Western Uganda. Do you ever come to Eastern Uganda?
Thanks for following me and my Facebook page Catherine. The lack of Eastern UG pics hasn’t been intentional, only that for my first almost 3 years I worked with the Uganda Conservation Foundation and their projects were in Queen Elizabeth at the time. (This meant I was forced to go on Safari for work – poor me! lol).
Have you read my blog A girl called Kevin: climbing Mount Elgon, Uganda ? I was rereading it this week and realised I must revisit. Where else do you recommend I go next?
Wow, such a great journey. You’ve set the bar on consistency quite high
Thanks for the appreciation Kakoma – comments like yours make all the late-nights and lost weekends worth it 🙂
That first picture sums up so much! Nice to know that other people get so much out of writing too, thanks for writing as it’s always a interesting read – hope you carry on writing even if the internet implodes. First time commenting but long time reader. Sim.
OMG when the internet implodes – then where will that leave me? (Is it possible to blog thru the medium of just banana leaf?!) Thanks v much for commenting Sim -and for being a regular reader 🙂 – and if you’re a writer then why not write a Guest Post for ‘the Diary’?
Hi Charlie,
I love #5, 6, 7 and 8.
I also used to write letters and e-mails long before blogging was invented. I did see some people used to have online journals, but that time, I didn’t know what to write about. Letters and e-mails were something different and a two way interaction.
So, you’re from London?
“Just do it”, is good but I once read a negative story related to it too. Not meaning it’s a bad thing, but it also depends what others use this determination for. On the negative side the same determination is a dark personality trait known as stubbornness.
Anyway, the story goes like this: There was a bank owner who always thought how to make his employees make better use of their time and increase efficiency and productivity.
So, he put the words “Just do it”, on some plates or banners so everyone would notice it without fail, many times daily. A few days later, he had to go abroad for something, for about a month.
When he returned back, he was horrified to see and hear the condition of his employees. One of the employees had hatred towards the bank manager and used to get thoughts of killing him. He had been putting such thoughts aside. But, on seeing the words “Just do it”, he made up his mind to just finish off the manager who, just kept ordering and scolding him. One day he did just that and went to jail.
Another employee, a cashier, used to get thoughts of stealing the cash. He too used to ignore them before. But, now on seeing the words “Just do it”, one day did just what he thought. He stole a huge amount of cash and ran away.
A third employee was jealous of a co-worker because everyone loved him. He used to get thoughts of beating the guy black and blue so that he won’t be able to come to work. So that he would leave the job and sit at home. He wanted others to love him that way. But, he too used to ignore or postpone such thoughts. On seeing the words “Just do it”, he beat the other guy and broke his bones, one fine day.
It was late when the owner understood what must have happened. The lesson he learnt was to do himself what he wanted to teach others. And, to be careful of people’s attitudes and how they can take something – positively or negatively.
Taken positively, never giving up is what makes this world run, and we wouldn’t have been connected if Thomas Edison had given up and didn’t fail in his 10,000 experiments to invent the light bulb.
So, you’re a Muzungu. 😛 Here in India, you may know, any white English people used to be called Firangi or Ungrez, though no one laughed at these words. These words are no longer used now.
Nice post. 🙂
Great story Raspal! Yes, I suppose the Just Do It phrase can be interpreted in different ways. Have you ever read the book ‘feel the fear and do it anyway’? That’s where I’m coming from – as you can imagine.
Interesting that white people are called Firengi in India – yet to visit India but really must do one day – white people are also called Firengi in Ethiopia.
There’s nothing bad in the word. But anyway, it’s no longer used now.
It’s slang word in Hindi for “foreigner”, especially used for white foreigners (this word was famous during the British rule in India).
I recently heard that in Thailand too, the word farangi is used for foreigner.
Haven’t read ‘feel the fear and do it anyway’. Will check it out.
Apparently… firengi is derivation of the word French / Frenchy!
I have written about everything save for trees – do you have a tree in your life? I love everything you blog about…..John Walker keeps walking, you should keep Blogging……
Hi Gaster, Great to hear from you and thanks for the appreciation.
I would love you to write a guest post for Diary of a Muzungu all about trees!
One of my next blogs is all about the incredible day long trek through Bwindi Impenetrable Forest a few weeks ago from Buhoma to Nteko Ridge, Nkuringo, South Western Uganda
Totally enjoyable from start to finish. Only downside was that I missed having a guide who was knowledgeable on trees. I did admire the 3 metre high tree ferns and the wonderful Mahoghany trees.
My only other ‘tree blog’ is about Mabira Forest I would dearly love to read more from Tree Talk
Nice blog carefully framed
Thanks! Writing a blog is the best thing I have ever done 🙂
I love your blog and you introduced me to this thing called blogging and i love it very much, very few Ugandans are running blogs and i have joined the blogging team and you can visit my blog at theguptareport.blogspot.com. Iam a very passionate Ugandan blogger who records news items, some insights about Uganda and world over. Thanks MuzungublogUganda. Thanks Charlotte for bringing the best out of me. You can visit my blog at theguptareport.blogspot.com
Hey Mercy, thanks for the appreciation – webale kusiima 🙂
Good luck with the blogging! Writing a blog is one of the best things I will ever do. It keeps me busy, has given me many opportunities to travel and I always meet all kinds of interesting people.
There are quite a lot of Ugandan bloggers these days. You can connect with some of them on the UGBloc Uganda blogging community website or on Twitter. Most Ugandan bloggers are more active on Twitter and Instagram than Facebook. My advice to you is to become an expert in one particular subject area, rather than try and cover too many topics. Also, another piece of advice (given to me) is to spend more time promoting your content than writing it. For every hour you spend writing, you should spend several hours promoting it. Apparently that is the trick!
Waooh such a great journey and good way to start blogging
It’s certainly been one hell of a journey! Have now been blogging for 10 years… Still learning along the way
All I say is bravo! By the way I’m one of those few boys who have kept numerous dairies. Im blogging soon. Thanks
Thanks for dropping by fellow diarist 🙂
Blogging is the best hobby ever… ! If you’re already writing regularly then posting regularly should be easy enough for you. Start simple – don’t overcommit and leave plenty of time for promoting your blog too. Best of luck!