365 Grateful – Day 188

365 Grateful Project

By minsmash on April 11, 2013 • ( 31 Comments )

I’ve been blogging now for 7 months.  During this time I have not yet met another blogger, nor have I attended any blogger meet up, blogger conference or workshop.

There have been occasions where I was keen to go to a blogger event and have had a valid reason for not going (i.e. being sick, budget, distance, other commitments) but there has also been a lot of fear holding me back from going to blogger events.

I have an anxiety disorder.  I haven’t always been an anxious person but this has been one of my crosses to bear since May 2012 when a distressing incident occurred that sent my nervous system into overdrive.

On Sunday 28 April 2013, Blog Power Events are holding a Blog Power Workshop.  A variety of speakers will deliver an intensive workshop designed to leave you confident with the tools to successfully improve your blog, engage your readers, master your stats, work with brands, and maybe even expand your blog into your own business.

I would dearly love to go.  I would like to meet other bloggers in real life and get to know them and I would so appreciate the opportunity to learn from them and have some of my questions answered.

When I first saw this Workshop announced on Facebook, I was nervously excited because it was in Brisbane!  Then I saw it was being held at North Lakes.  North Lakes?  That must be on the North side of Brisbane.  I don’t know the North side of Brisbane at all.  My anxiety levels elevated – so I instantly dismissed it.  You see I have an anxiety fuelled fear of driving to unfamiliar places.

Did you notice that in the paragraph before this I said ‘nervously excited’?  I said that because of my other fear.  A fear of walking alone into a room full of people I don’t know.  What will they think of me?  Will I be what they expect?  Will I disappoint?  Will I make a fool of myself?  What would I wear?  I know it sounds silly, even to me, because I used to be such a social butterfly.  Who is this person I have become?

Guess what?  Blog Power Events is offering an opportunity for one blogger to win a ticket to this Workshop.  Isn’t that awesomely generous?!   Again, my fears have prevented me trying…until now.  I have decided to give it a go – for my own good.  What you need to do is:   tell them why going to this workshop is important to you. Tell them via blog post, or even via vlog, just make sure you get creative and put your post on face book, twitter, instagram, Vine, and whatever else you have up your sleeve!

So I’m starting with this blog post which I am incorporating into today’s Grateful – Day 188, because this opportunity is most certainly something to be grateful and thankful for.  This post may not be fabulously creative but it is honest and from the heart.  I explain why it is important to me to go to this Workshop below:

I want to go to the Blog Power Events Workshop because I am new to blogging and have so, so, so much to learn.  I have many questions!  I have never met another blogger and have never before been to a blogger meet up, conference or workshop.   I would like to feel part of a community and feel more like a real blogger.  I would love to meet other bloggers and get to know them in real life and of course to learn from them. There are a few factors that prevent me from buying a ticket. Firstly, I am planning on enrolling in an on-line professional photography course which is going to cost lots of $’s … so budget is a concern, but even more than that is the fact that I have an anxiety disorder and there are two things I am afraid of. I’m afraid of driving to unfamiliar places. The north side of Brisbane I do not know at all. I’m also afraid of walking alone into a roomful of people I don’t know. Anxiety prevents me from doing so many things. It is continually shrinking my comfort zone.  It is important to me to go to this Workshop because I want to and I need to.  If I won a ticket – I would then have no choice but to face my anxieties head on and maybe by doing that it would encourage me to do so more often and my comfort bubble would expand so that I could live life more fully and joyfully.

I am grateful to Blog Power Events for offering opportunities for bloggers to meet and to learn more and for the very generous opportunity they have offered for one blogger to win a ticket to the upcoming Blog Power Workshop later this month.

Linking up today with Leigh of Six by the Bay‘s – Thankful Thursday

and Blogs and PR‘s – Talk to Us Thursday

Categories: 365 Grateful Project, Blogging

Tagged as: #365grateful, #365gratefulproject, #bloggers, #blogging, #bloggingevent, #blogpowerevents, #blogpowerworkshop, #event, #grateful, #gratitude, #thankful, #workshop