I used to look forward to my morning scroll through Bloglovin, where-- for a few moments-- I could see the world through someone else's eyes and take part in their experiences. I would cry as I read about the loss of a pet, laugh as I read someone's recollection of their quarter-life crisis, and feel inspirited as I looked through amazing photographs of places I'd never been. I would come away rejuvenated and motivated and especially inspired to blog myself.

But, somewhere within the last few months, I've lost that enjoyment. I go days without reading a blog post, clicking that awful Mark All As Read button after a week's worth of posts has built up. Why?

Because blogging has changed, drastically, and not for the better.

I know that seems a little pessimistic, but it's true. I'm sure you've noticed it, too.

Posts that reflect the personal life, thoughts and feelings of the blogger are few an far between. They are outweighed and drowned out by posts that tell you how to be a successful blogger, how you need to run your social media, the importance of branding your photography, what you should never do on your blog... Blogging has become focused on the business of blogging.

And there is nothing necessarily wrong with that. Those posts are popular for a reason-- they are helpful and inspiring to many bloggers. But this heavy focus on making your blog a brand and a business, in my opinion, takes away the magic of blogging. It's not what the heart (or art) of blogging should be about. It's commercialized and sterilized and inauthentic.

I would like to see it go away.

I'm going to be taking a step in that direction with my own blog. I've said this before but never followed through because I still felt that pull to become a successful blogger. That pull to take my blog from a hobby to a career really limited what I felt like I could post and just left me feeling weighed down. It caused me to fall out of love with blogging.

But I feel like it's time for the blogging community, as a whole, to take a step back and refocus. Those posts about how to build your brand, what type of blogging is most commercially successful, and the best way to run your social media to benefit your growth... Those are all still necessary! But none of us need to let this quest for success leave us feeling down or like we're failures, and that is a sentiment I am seeing more often this year. And I think a push back from commercial-focused blogging is almost necessary for the blogging community to grow and continue to flourish.

The main point is you do you. Find that balance and embrace it and never feel like you have to limit yourself. It's a good motto to have for blogging and life.