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Starting My Blogging Journey: How I Did It

Introduction

My name is Kayla and I am 30 years old. I have been married for almost five and a half years. I have a golden doodle, and a daughter, who is almost two years old. I have been teaching for six years. I have been a Special Education Teacher during most of my career in both the Elementary and Middle School setting. In May 2023, I will have my Masters degree in Education with the concentration of school administration / leadership. From the outside looking in you would think I had it all together, was very accomplished and everything fell right in place for me. HA! 

Past Trauma

Like everyone else, trauma and hard times have not discriminated against me. I have had my share of hard times. During the Fall of 2022, when I was experiencing "a series of unfortunate events", it sent me into a downward spiral, which landed me in therapy, (it was a long time coming). During these sessions, we determined that my devastating reaction to such a minor incident was due to an underlying cause. This underlying cause was not just one underlying cause but many causes. I have had quite a few traumatic events in my life that I never really healed from. Instead I used my trauma as fuel to get me where I am in life. Which for me, turned out to be a good thing but then also a bad thing because when I experience something emotionally painful that doesn’t even deserve a reaction, I overreact because it brings out the post trauma that I never properly healed or grieved from. It was finally time to work on myself and develop coping strategies so minor things do not get a reaction they do not deserve. 

Therapy 

My therapist always praises me for all of the things I have overcome. I call it “my series of unfortunate events”. She always compliments me for all I have accomplished and how well I balance being a mom, wife, teacher and graduate student. She mentioned that when someone has so much on their plate they usually do not do everything so well, but I am dominating. One day she asked me what I do for me, what is my escape. I guess my escape is my regular hair and nail appointments. I was not satisfied with that answer, in fact that was the moment I realized that I DON’T HAVE A HOBBY. Yeah, I like to read, go for walks, go shopping, spend time with my family and listen to podcasts, but I don’t have a hobby. So one evening when I was putting the baby down, I researched some hobbies on pinterest. I needed something that I could easily access and was convenient.

When the Light Bulb Clicked

   During one of my post trauma events, way before I started therapy, I downloaded a journal app on my phone. This app was basically used as a safe place to vent, because I knew what I was letting out would never be repeated. On my pinterest search, journaling was one of the suggestions. I realized that I enjoy writing, even my grad school papers gave me some satisfaction. I just had to figure out how to get started, so again I got back on pinterest and found some journal topics. One of the topics was: What do I need more in my life right now? That was simple, I needed a hobby, but not just something for me, something that could maybe even help others. I created a Google Drive folder on my chrome book just for journaling. This could be easily accessed wherever I am. I created a Google Blog account for writings I would like to share to hopefully help someone someday. When I started to create a blog, one question was, what is your blog going to be called? I didn’t want to do something basic that just focused on one topic, I wanted it to be broad. As I continued to research journal topics and dealing with past trauma the title just came to me one day. 

How I did it

I have a great support system which includes friends, family and coworkers. The people who matter! One thing that everyone has always said to me is “I don’t know how you did it”. When my dad died and I went back to finish my undergrad, I got, “I don’t know how you did it”. When I had a huge wedding and walked down the aisle without my dad I got, “I don’t know how you did it”. When I battled fertility issues, I got, “I don’t know how you did it”. When I delivered a baby in January during a pandemic, had a traumatic birth experience, then couldn’t leave my house, because I had a newborn and there was a pandemic; which all led to postpartum depression, I got, “I don’t know how you did it”. I balance being a wife, mom, teacher, and grad student and of course I get. “I don’t know how you do it”. My response to the “I don’t know how you do/ did it”, is always “I just did/do it”. Reflecting on everything I need to vent about and searching for journal topics while also wanting to help others, inspiration hit for my blogger's name. “How I did it”.


Blogging Goals

My goals for this blog are to not only improve my mental health and officially have a hobby but to hopefully help others as well. I hope to talk about things I went through, what helped me and how I managed to come through on the other side. Sometimes when I was going through things, hearing about others experiences and seeing how they healed gave me some hope. I do not only want to talk about “How I did it” but I want to write about other journal topics as well. Some I will keep in my Google Drive folder and some I will post in my blog.


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