Blogging is serendipity. Maybe this revelation will shock you, but I had not read blogs till 2011, simply because the worldwide web did not feature in my knowledge bank. Probably, it was because my life was all about traditional pen and paper till the 1990s. Then, it was forced to transit to computer typing that became a story on paper. How I got the hang of computers is also a story for a later post. I couldn’t ever imagine a story that wasn’t on paper. But the blog changed me, it turned me into another human being, who finally sighs with relief at being normal in this fast-paced world.  

Lesson 1

Change is the only constant in this universe. To remain dynamic, keep your mind open, adopt a learner’s attitude. Chuck ego, age is no bar to be at par. Read news in details, not just the headline notifications and keep progressive company. I learned about e-mail in 1990s, when it had not come to India. A classmate was travelling to the US for higher studies and she mentioned this form of communication. She and her sister had even got scholarships to the capitalist continent and were happy to settle their lives on their own.  Freedom lies in knowledge and confidence.

Circa 2011: No job, magazines sliding—I had no way forward. Maybe, I was immature and naïve, not knowing how to handle myself in the world, or maybe the lack of opportunities was getting to me. I seemed to be caught in an inexplicable trap. But necessity is the mother of invention or should I say change.  

I had never been a very ambitious person. The ambition to join a newspaper was a by-product of my exposure to the world through a sudden entry into the world of journalism in 1999. The only thing that I had ever loved were books and writing or drawing cartoons. But here was life, taking me out from the fantasy to the real world; journalism turning my desire to discover into a desire to write the truth. It took me a year to learn how to write features.

Taking the context to 2011-12 again, well, the job didn’t happen. Depression set in, the desire to do something was there. I was lost and then a young colleague suggested that we launch our blog. Her profile had been to aggregate news. I didn’t even know what that was. I do seem stupid, now. But then, I didn’t know my path or maybe I was just a sleeping brain.

Lesson 2

There is never the right time or the right place or the right person. You awaken as you experience the myriad shades of life. And that my friend, is the right time, right place and right age and stage. Always, be open to opportunities, you never know what profits they bring your way—tangible and intangible.  Live in the moment and be prepared for the next one. Not all dreams shape up the way you want them, keep them alive in different ways, and keep dreaming new dreams.

So, we started a travel and lifestyle blog, which began to do well. At least, it looked like that to me. People followed us on Facebook. We got many invites for events and food reviews. We didn’t get many invites for travel but we did begin to cover walk leaders in Delhi. Mind you, my only job was to do content, my young colleague did the backend technical job, even took photographs. We were not present on Instagram or Twitter. She devised a strategy o put up 3 posts daily on Facebook. It worked. I had the magazine model in my heart and soul, having made so many in 11 years of work life. We added a weekly angel card and tarot readings column to get more readers. Well, now after 25 years as a professional, I have a different model in mind.

Weeks turned into three months, and my young colleague wanted to turn the blog into a website. I didn’t agree, I wanted to understand this medium before proceeding forward and I didn’t have the confidence that this was the way forward. The result, we fell out. And again, I was left on my own. I still didn’t’ have digital knowledge. But I thought I had a new skill.

Lesson 3

It’s good to walk as a team, but it’s not good to be on crutches. Learn the basics of your partner’s functional areas. Always be prepared for an emergency. Disagreements need to be resolved rationally. Emotional decisions hamper a profitable outcome. Egos are fragile, and for success, ego is a dampener.  

In 2013, I started a blog on blogger, cumalive.blogspot.com, and began posting there. I learned to view analytics, got to understand sharing and commenting. And then began asking people about pushing this forward, ways and methods. I thought the blog could be my career now.

In 2014, I transited to WordPress because it was the more popular CMS. I named it, atravellerswishlist.com, after all, I wanted to travel and travel. But you don’t get invites just because you have a blog or you know how to write or you were the editor of a famous inflight magazine. My experience did not count here simply because this was another medium. Its demands were different and I was learning. I learned that all this while I had been sought after for the media house I worked for, it had nothing to do with my skills. This was my first awakening—I did not count; the media house gave me the product that counted.

Lesson 4

It’s okay to experiment. It’s okay to not know and fail. These things will teach you how to succeed. If you don’t know something, ask for help. It’s okay. Keep exploring your possibilities, and your options. You will find the goal only if you flow, not when you are in a box, not ready to come out. Not everything you do on an organisational scale is meant for yourself. Keep your balance and find what’s good for you. Skills change when platforms change.  

My job search was always on, even as I slowly crawled my way through a new network of people and things. Unlike the organised media house, where departments ad work are clearly defined, here I walked into an unorganised world. There was no common platform, just a common event. That changed the game—while there was variety, there was a question mark on the quality. But then, quality is defined by the individual and not the event. Slowly, as I wove my way in and out, I understood that I needed to express myself in a way that would bring out my definition of quality. I could share my experience and my thoughts in the way I thought were appropriate.

Lesson 5

It’s important to choose wisely in the professional arena. Following or leading, always be discerning and thoughtful. Focus on your goal and the best way to reach there. Old skills are never wasted, but new skills need to blend with old ones.

I began to study Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, blogging hacks, hashtags, SEO tips, photography, videos. I stopped putting random selfies. I started to pen stories that were more web friendly. I changed headlines, learned about keywords, linking, DA, page views and all the other tech stuff. I began to see YouTube tutorials and advice for bloggers. I learned to go live, share my thoughts in a more attractive way, stopped being scared of coming out on a camera and so much more.

Lesson 6

Appreciate yourself and your efforts. Don’t jump into the bandwagon just because it looks glamorous. Make sure you know the pros and cons. Long-term success lies in knowing the details. Nothing in the world is ever the same, it might be similar but it’s also unique. Treasure that uniqueness, master the game with that USP.

Well, in between these periods, there were more well-paying projects, which would last for a few months. Then there were months of learning new skills and exploring more avenues. The digital world is an unexplored galaxy. To find your place in this galaxy, you have keep going from one fragment to another and connect it all. So finally, after 7 years, I did have a picture of what to do and how to do. All along, I thanked my stars that I had progressed beyond words and cartoons. I had learned photography and videography. I can now write copies for small advertisements, do ghost writing, make brochures, newsletters, books, choose the right theme for my blog and make some presentable changes to it as well. I am a book-maker, website content writer, and photographer, podcaster, videographer. I learned many streams of mass communication on the go.

From a simple features writer with a deep love for the creative, I had now learned different kinds of content and entered into the world of visuals and sound and motion. I realised that there were many like me, who were going through similar learning. I learned to appreciate the efforts they were making for this.

Lesson 7

There is never a right or wrong path. There is the path that you need to learn and that path comes with awareness. Some things you become aware of while walking, some through experiences shared by others and all through things you consciously choose to learn and adapt to. Given the vast choices on the web, there is never an idle moment.

In the decade that went by, I saw journalists losing their jobs, magazines shutting down, YouTubers, Instagrammers, Podcasters, Videographers taking centrestage. Well, I also saw blogging platforms shut down, for instance Indiblpgger. I had travelled for an event in Dehradun via the platform. A few months later, I heard the platform closed down and the founders were back to jobs! It wasn’t a happy end, but I realised that to succeed in blogging, you need a good business development manager. And I didn’t have that. Covid-19 nailed the coffin of traditional ways of working. The paper had truly been replaced by the digital.

Lesson 8

Once you have the basics in place, you need experts. Admit and search for the expert. The old order doesn’t collapse in a day and a new order is also not made in a day. Accept the speed of time and keep walking.

In this last decade, social media has gained more momentum and bloggers feel left out. Videos are the norm; the written word feels lost. But is the word really lost in the visuals and sound and motion? Does the bite-sized moment really satiate the appetite or does the bite-sized moment ignite the desire to go deeper? That’s a very tough question, as the ocean of content with infinite choices and attractions means that there are no long-term readers and viewers. Everyone flips channels and handles and blogs. Everything is relevant and nothing is relevant. There are demographics and persons, each individual has an appetite for something different—the variety gives us room to be more creative, to learn more, to grow more and to do more.

Lesson 9

Remember, variety is the spice of life. Add to your core skills and always find ways to shift out of your comfort zone. There is never a dull moment in life if you keep adding the colours to it.

Given this scenario and my learnings of one decade in blogging, I finally decided that I had too many interests and wanted to write on varied subjects. Mother Earth has given us such an abundant planet and such a fertile mind, and I wanted to put all these treasures of body, mind and soul on the blog. And armed with all the evolvement of one decade, I finally narrowed down on a name that would help me on my journey forward. In October 2022, A Traveller’s Wish List transformed into Queen of Treasures. After all, change is the only real constant in this world.

Lesson 10

Never, ever give up on your expertise. Remember, the world needs everything. And your road to abundance lies in adding and not subtracting. There is no turning back—just keep learning and adding. There is never a perfect skill or a perfect formula, but there is always room for doing something better and bigger. Remain consistent and dedicated to change.

What have been your lessons in life? Do share with us in the comments box.

This blog post is part of the blog challenge ‘Blogaberry Dazzle’ hosted by Cindy D’Silva and Noor Anand Chawla in collaboration with Mads’ Cookhouse.

This post is a part of Blogchatter Blog Hop 
It was related to the prompt, ‘Tell us about yourself using your favourite pieces of content’.