This week will be six months since I first began this blog. That’s a little crazy to me. It does not feel like it’s been that long. Some weeks, I can’t wait to write (and usually write it early and schedule it), and other weeks, I haven’t fully decided what I’m going to write about until after classes. It’s just a part of life. This week, I kind of want to reflect on where this journey has taken me.

I have thought about doing a blog for a while now. I toyed with the idea multiple times in high school, but I never followed through. I never knew how, and I didn’t know what I would even talk about. With as busy as my life was at the time (still is now, but in a different way), I did not think it would be manageable. However, I thought it would be something I would enjoy. (I also toyed with the idea of creating a vlog, but I hate the sound of my voice externally, and would hate having to edit it while hearing myself. No thank you).

However, I have so much going on in my head all the time that I needed a way to funnel it. So instead, I wrote stories. I never finished them though because my thoughts just get so jumbled and disconnected. While it was a good creativity booster, it was not what I wanted. I just could not get my thoughts across.

When I got to college, that idea persisted in my head. I know some friends that have a blog, and it just wouldn’t leave my head that I should have one too. I contemplated with the idea for the first two months of school, but in a more serious way than I ever did in high school. I had to answer some questions for myself. What would I write about? Whatever I wanted. My life, history, motivational stuff. How often would I post? My original plan was to do one post like every two weeks and work it up more (I’ll come back to that in a minute).

Finally, in late October, I asked some of the girls who live around me if they would read a blog if I created one. They all said yes. However, they were probably some of the only people that knew what I was thinking. I like to keep my life private for the most part and off social media, simply because it doesn’t need to be there. I knew I would have to spread the word somehow to people.

So, after considering how I would get the word out, I started researching various free blog sites because I didn’t want to pay for anything because I didn’t know how serious I would be about it. I could totally hate it. I didn’t really know how I would feel about it. I finally settled on WordPress because they seemed to offer the most options for free.

I started creating it and came across a dilemma. I needed a name for it! It couldn’t just be called Kim’s blog. I wanted something creative and humorous and shows who I am. I googled a pun generator and typed in different parts of my name. When I typed in “Kim,” as I scrolled down, I came across “Battle Kim of the Republic.” I laughed for about five straight minutes. I continued scrolling, but I started chuckling again. So it was that that became the name for my blog. I would assume everyone understands the pun (but I’ve learned that assumptions can get me in trouble), the original title is “Battle Hymn of the Republic,” which was written in/for the Civil War (my favorite period to study). So, in essence, it incorporates my name, my favorite thing in history, and music. I thought it was the perfect representation of me.

So the name problem solved, I wrote and published my first post. It’s actually hard to give a specific anniversary of my blog, because I started it late at night. By the time I had posted, which was after midnight, the blog was dated the next day.

I mentioned earlier that the original plan was to post every other week. Obviously, that didn’t work. What really happened was that I fell in love with writing like this. I couldn’t wait to write again. I received so much support and praise that it made me proud. I have a lot to say, and it’s great to actually have a platform on which to do it.

When I created this blog, I had no idea where it would take me, or even what I could do with it. However, an opportunity came up. A couple weeks ago, my history professor had us read some writings and write a response about it. We do this fairly frequently, but this time it was about feminism. In my response, I mentioned my blog and actually gave him the link to that post to read what I had written about the subject. I never expected to have that kind of an opportunity. As of yet I haven’t gotten any feedback about what he thought about it, but he complimented the name of it.

As much as I love the praise and support I have received, that was never the reason I created this. I could not care less the number of people that read this. It’s nice having an audience, but my main goal was to get my thoughts out of my head. But since the creation, there have only been MORE thoughts in my head. In fact, I have a box on my desk with blog ideas. There is so much I want to write about. That being said, I welcome any suggestions. I actually had a student from IU email me about ideas on how to live with a roommate. That was actually one of my topics, but I did it sooner than I had originally planned. Some of my posts have a date that I want to write about, but most I have no agenda. So I welcome suggestions. However, I warn you that I may say no if I am uncomfortable with the topic, or it may take me a few weeks to get to it. I also don’t want my blog to become a community blog. I know that’s kind of selfish, but I was the only one to put the effort into making this a thing. I don’t want other people to receive credit for my work, you know?

If any of you read this and you have been thinking about creating a blog, do it! I love it so much. Writing is just a way for me to focus on something else besides school for a little bit. There is no specific structure, and you can write about anything you want.

If you don’t want to create a blog, that’s great too. But I encourage you to find a hobby. Do something you enjoy and that sparks your interest. It adds variety and helps detract from the mundaneness of life. I never imagined I would actually be here, and I can’t wait to see where the next six months take me!