I haven't logged into Blogger in 15 years

Hello, world!

It's been 15 years since I last drafted a post in Blogger. To be honest, I wasn't sure it still existed. That post from 2011 never got published, but it ended with "Sorry I haven't posted for a longggg time! Can't post much anymore because I am very busy." 

Little did I know that would be my last post for another 15 years... and that eventually, I'd find my way back. And here I am! Back, writing in my old Blogger account, because it's the only platform that isn't making me overthink, over edit, and procrastinate putting my writing out there into the internet sphere. Funny how that very internet sphere has evolved into something completely different since I last opened up this outdated, clunky interface, yet somehow I've done a 180 and ended up right back in the same spot. Everything has changed, but also, somehow, nothing has changed?

(I was considering writing inside of my old "Dani's World" blog, but decided to start fresh with "Danielle's World" instead!)

In case you haven't already done the math... I'm 25 now! Since the last time we spoke—we, of course, being myself and the bright orange Blogger logo once again gleaming at the top of my screen—I've traveled 15 more years around the sun. Lived 1.5x the amount of life I'd experienced when I first started this blog. I've lived in one more country, visited 27 new ones; graduated from elementary, middle, and high school; started a successful business with no business degree... I'm not even sure how to give an update on everything that's happened from ages 10-25, but here are two quick lists to help me try.

10-year-old Danielle would be shocked, appalled, and possibly concerned to hear that she would eventually:

• Drop out of college to start a business
• Not become a school teacher
• Leave the church and Christianity
• Have cuss words in her daily vocabulary
• Get tattoos and piercings
• Have sex before marriage
• Own multiple decks of tarot/oracle cards
• Do lots of yoga (and even teach it!)

And she would be so, so happy to know that she would also eventually:

• Have MANY pets with her family, and two cats of her own
• Travel the world with her friends, family, and by herself
• Start a business doing work that she loves, and serving people she cares about
• Fall back in love with reading fiction
• Be drum major of her high school marching band, and meet a cute boy doing it
• Volunteer at her local library (just like her mom and grandma!)
• See 5 Seconds of Summer, Niall Horan, ZAYN, and Louis Tomlinson in concert
• Go skydiving over the coast of Hawaii
• Quit piano lessons at age 14, then start them back up again at age 25
• Still be jamming out to One Direction, Pitbull, and all of her favorite 2000's-2010's music

I'm back because my love for writing has never disappeared, but the pressure I've put on myself to do it well has grown immensely. In an age where writers, creatives, and entrepreneurs can publicize themselves more easily than ever, it feels extremely scary to put yourself out there when there are already so many talented people doing it better, faster, earlier than you. I have ideas and opinions I want to share, I have stories I want to tell, but I edit myself before I even begin to write because I feel it has to be "perfect" before anyone else lays eyes on it. Before I open myself up to judgement from the internet.

I've tried writing on Substack, and I enjoyed it, but even that started to feel like too much pressure. So, when I came across this old blog for the hundredth time recently... it felt like the space I'd been looking for. I figure that if I want to get into the habit of writing (and sharing my writing) consistently, without fear of judgement, this little hidden corner of the internet I created before I'd even hit puberty would be the perfect place to practice. And for some reason, it feels really special to feel like I'm writing to my 10-year-old self again, in the same place that she typed up her silly little blogs without a care in the world. I want to channel that energy again.

So much of what I've learned so far in my early twenties is that healing, joy, and happiness come from returning to the things you loved as a child; who you were before life got in the way, before your brain started trusting the judgement and opinions of others and pushing your own down, down, down until it was no longer visible. Music, media, books, hobbies, fandoms, quirks... 

That's why I am COMMITTING to letting this be a place where I share whatever the fuck I want. If I end up liking something I write and wanting to polish it, share it with a wider audience, then sure, maybe I'll post it on Substack. But for now, this is a place for me to practice saying what I have to say on a regular basis. 

I want to write about daily life. I want to write about my friends, the books I read, the hobbies I take up, my boyfriend, my life here in Seattle and wherever the future may take me. I want to write about my travels, collecting those memories all in one place that I can come back to and re-read down the road. And I want to do it all without the pressure of building a "brand," growing a following, seeking external validation from likes and comments, or neatly packaging up my content to fit an image/aesthetic. It feels comforting to start out writing to no one, or at least no one but a few close friends/family members.

Anyway, I'm off to eat dinner (in the apartment that I share with my boyfriend in Seattle), before we walk over to the movie theater to watch Project Hail Mary. It'll be my second viewing and I'm excited to see it again—it was one of my favorite reads of 2025!

P.S. Here's a (very sunburnt) photo of me from a recent trip to Hawaii—I can't wait to write up a little trip report/recap soon and reflect on how wonderful it was :)