In Defense Of The Superficial: The Real Reason I Started Blogging.

It's an interesting time to characterize yourself as a blogger. With multiple controversies that have gained international media attention, coupled with social media as a platform for people to voice their opinions, the blogging industry has been having a tough go of it. I've read scathing comments, from calling bloggers entitled, taunting them to get a real job, to seething comments about creating a curated, unattainable life. While these comments can be hurtful to read, especially when you not only classify yourself as a blogger but it's also your livelihood, I can brush them off as people not understanding the industry. There is one comment that does get under my skin though, and that's people's perception that this life that we live, the media we create, it's all purely just superficial and, as such, should be dismissed. While I'm not here to argue, or go toe-to-toe to change anyone's opinions, I do have my own story to share and I hope it helps to shed some light on why I'm here to defend the superficial, and how it kept me from drowning years ago.

I've mentioned multiple times on my blog and social media channels that I was working as a Funeral Director when I first started La Petite Noob. What I never mentioned is the toll the job was taking on my mental state and physical well-being. Without going into too much detail, the fact that my days centred around death started to really take a toll on me. Life can get messy, and the fact that I was dealing with the darkest that life had to offer on a daily basis lead to my own life feeling heavy. So, so heavy. Couple this with long hours, shift work and a brutal commute to-and-from work and I found myself having a hard time getting out of bed in the mornings. While the burden I was carrying felt like a weight that was keeping me just below the surface gasping for air, I still loved my job too much to quit and was searching for any lifeline to be able to continue working while still keeping afloat.

It was at my lowest point, after a particularly brutal day where I was confronted with the fragility of life, I decided that there's no time like the present. I wrote up a list of 30 things I wanted to do before I turned 30, linked it to my first post and thus La Petite Noob was created. Suddenly I had an outlet, a safe space that I had created all for myself that I could indulge in all of the lightness and surface topics that I so desperately craved in my day-to-day life. I would post about apartment décor, I would catch a breath of air. A post about outfits and holiday planning and I felt like I could kick myself up to the surface. Pretty soon I was posting regularly, and I started to feel like I was treading water on my own. Life became lighter. I needed this safe space to indulge in the superficial to keep me sane, combat the brutal truths about life I was facing on a daily basis, and keep me breathing.

While my case is definitely in the minority, since I'm sure very few people are coming from a place of working in funeral services, I do think that this sentiment can ring true for many. You guys, life is hard for everyone, no matter what the circumstance. And while I'm not here to argue, or try to prove a point, I do want to make my case for the superficial; why indulging in it doesn't make me any less of a person and how it nearly saved my life.

I hope this made sense! I hope that this post helps to shed some light into why I try to keep La Petite Noob a positive, happy place and the history that lead to that decision. I'm definitely very interested to hear your thoughts. What do you do to keep a lightness in your life?  Have you ever created something to help protect your mental health? Let me know!

Thank you so much for reading.

xo Joëlle