This Christmas I decided to take a full break from Floralesque and my social media. I think I posted just one photo for Christmas and then an Insta story for New Years when I was home in Sligo. I decided not to make any announcement about it – just to step back and reflect on 2017. I have previously spoken about taking a digital detox here, but this time it wasn’t about just stepping back from the screen(s), it was about evaluating my work/life balance.
Over the past year, between my career job and Floralesque, I have managed to get out of sync with regards my work/life and my work side has over-taken my ‘life’ side and I need to work to get it back in balance. I adore writing and therefore Floralesque to me is a passion project and I love spending hours curating content and finding new Irish design talent to highlight (and honestly most of the time I do not even notice the time going by). But between my career job and this website I was easily ‘working’ 80 hours a week. And that is a lot.
Therefore, I have decided to make some changes. No longer will I be putting the pressure on myself to publish 5-7 times a week, instead it will be somewhere between 3-5 times a week and my content is also going to go back to focus more on what I love – Irish Design.
Over the past few months, I think I have been influenced by others on what I thought I should be publishing and not what I enjoy publishing. Weirdly, some of those posts have done really well view wise, but in my own heart, I want to go back to what Floralesque was in the beginning – sharing my love of Irish Design, talking to local designers and then throwing in my thoughts on style, skincare I love and travel. And for that reason, the blog is going to be quiet for the next few weeks until probably the second week in February while I decide on how exactly Floralesque is going to be going forward.
On a slightly different note, Floralesque has always been a hobby that I love doing and it is in no way a big player in the overall scheme of blogging both in Ireland and beyond. But the blog means a lot to me. It is written directly by me and I am always honest. I am not the ‘face’ of the blog so to speak, but any pictures of me are the real me – no Facetuning here (though maybe I should haha!!). A post with my code of conduct on here is coming in the coming month as I think it is important to be fully transparent.
Personally, outside of my online work/bubble, I need to prioritise my family, fiance and friends more. In 2017, I seemed to let a lot slip away from me just from not being involved and that is something I want to change in 2018. I am sure that I am not the only one, it is too easy to get too involved in the online world. I loved spending time this Christmas focused just on those I love and love to annoy! That is where I am happiest and something that I want to enjoy more this year.
With wedding planning and also trying to buy a house, 2018 is already shaping up to be a busy year and there will be no New Year’s resolutions this year. But hopefully, it will be a great year on here for Floralesque (as well as another online project currently in the works), and also a year full of laughter, love and fun which in honesty is the most important thing.
