Long Time, Not Talk (In More Ways Than One)

Posted on by Ashleigh

Ok, so I admit it’s not been that long really. Just over a month, maybe? But to someone who hasn’t taken a break in all her three years of blogging, it’s feels…weird. And I don’t like it. 

But let’s face it, life got on top of me. October was the cue for everything to begin apparently. Not only did I have uni work and reading to keep up with, but every weekend was taken over by some sort of big event (think wedding of close family member) or trip that needed just as much organisation. And me being me, I don’t allow myself nearly enough breaks. So my mental health and physical health took a dive in the process too, which as you can imagine was REAL GREAT TIMING. But hey. It happens. 

To be honest I’m being quite blasé about all this in comparison to the stress it caused me. Every physical indicator of stress decided to make its appearance, and some are still sticking around – yes acne, I’m looking at you (and so is EVERYONE ELSE since you refuse to leave my face). And it’s very rare for me to become physically ill, but it reached a point where I became just so run down my body had to prioritise. The joys. 

But I’m back! I have things to say. Posts to post. Books to share.

It feels like way too long since I’ve chatted to you folks. Which actually brings me onto the second meaning of my title…

I feel like I’ve lost something here.

When I began this blog, I very quickly built myself a following of people who I loved engaging with and would chat to on a regular basis across all social media. And it was the highlight of my day, every day. Without fail. And yet now, three years on, I feel like I’ve lost that. Now I’m not saying this to blame anyone – if it’s anyone’s fault, it’d be my own for letting my own blog-hopping and active engagement on other people’s blogs drop drastically. But there’s that, and the fact that a lot of the people who I used to chat to might not be active bloggers anymore. It’s perfectly natural, and yet I can’t help feeling slightly down about it sometimes. I almost feel like I’ve let people go without realising, lost friends in a quiet way. I’m still beyond thankful for them accepting and supporting me so readily.

(#deep, I know. I’m almost done with the soppy crap I promise)

And that’s not to say I don’t get any comments at all. I do, and I see all of you who comment and appreciate you more than you can believe. I have people who I engage with via booktube or twitter or instagram, and people who I hope I can call friends. But maybe those people don’t actively follow or make a habit of commenting on people’s blogs, which is perfectly fine too. Blogs aren’t for everyone (they weren’t even for me until I started my own). It just feels like there’s a severe imbalance between my blog and booktube now. Booktube is what I’ve always wanted to do, but blogging was my first point of call. And I know that in the grand scheme of things booktube tends to be more popular anyway – I just didn’t want to let my blog drop completely. And I know things haven’t gone that pear shaped yet – hey, surely someone is reading this, right? (*waves*) – but I do feel like I need to rebuild my engagement for my blog.

*breathes*

So here I am. I’m back. I’m back and on a mission of sorts.

I have posts planned, lots of them. I hope I can interact with other bloggers more and make a better habit of reading/commenting on other people’s blog posts. I can’t promise I’ll have posts uploaded every week like I used to, but I’ll try my damned best to stay near that mark. And I hope, I really do hope, that I can give this lil blog of mine a bit of a revival.

Fancy a peep at what’s coming?

  • My Book Haul Highlights – I do all book hauls over on my booktube channel now, but I’m definitely going to be featuring a highlights reel of sorts here on my blog where I talk about the books I’m most excited for! It’s going to be a hard one, because my upcoming book haul is full of incredible sounding books, but there’s definitely a few I want to chat about. And the full video will be at the bottom of the post in case you missed the full haul and fancied checking it out!
  • My Recent Favourites – there’s been a fair few random things I’ve been loving lately, so why not chat about them? I’ve been thinking of recreating my monthly favourites set up I used to have, which you can check out here – what do you think? Let me know!
  • A Christmas Gift Guide – I mean, t’is the season, right? I’ve gradually been compiling together a bookish gift guide, but this time a little different. I’m hoping that I can recommend specific independent places for you to shop at, helping support small businesses in the process of christmas shopping! It should be up towards the end of November/beginning of December, so be sure to keep a look out!
  • British & Irish Folktales Review – My current read is a collection of British and Irish Folktales, something I’ve not read much of before despite my love for folktales. There should be a review up soon once I’ve finished it!
  • Under 100 by 2019 Update – remember that challenge I set myself? Yeah…let’s see how badly I’m failing 😆 

SO those are my upcoming plans! Phew, quite a few. I’d love to know if you’re particularly excited about any of those posts mentioned above. I’ve not decided on which order they’ll be uploaded yet, so maybe you can help me decide!

I hope this lonnnng ramble hasn’t overwhelmed anyone. I’ve just been questioning my place in the book blogging community for a little while now, so I hope I can cement it back in place a little more.

For everyone that’s here now, whether you’ve been here all along or just arrived today with this post, I appreciate you being here. Thank you ❤ 

Until next time,

sign off handle saying "Ashleigh" for A Frolic Through Fiction blog

25 thoughts on “Long Time, Not Talk (In More Ways Than One)”

  1. Hello, I’m new to your blog but I’m so sorry to hear about the burnout. That thing really is a b, and it’s a good thing to recognise it and take a break when you need to before it escalates. I’m also with you on the acne bit… Mine is hormonal post partum but way to kick someone when they are down.

    I’ve been book blogging intermittently for years and I think you’re right about the game having changed and not for the better. No one seems to share their thoughts on posts any more, it’s a click of a like button but limited real engagement. I think it’s probably because everyone’s over chatting on Instagram but I want to bring old school blogging and book chat back so I’ll be looking forward to your new posts.

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    1. Hi!! Thank you so much for following, first of all! I’ve always been an advocate for taking breaks when they’re needed, but I feel like I only apply that to other people. If I acknowledge it’s myself taking a break, I don’t like it at all. So maybe it’s a good thing I didn’t even realise I’d taken one until now? 😆
      Ugh acne is the worst.
      You’re right about the like button almost replacing comments! It’s so much easier to like a post as a way of saying “I read and liked this” instead of commenting. I’m definitely making more of an effort to comment as well, even if it’s just to actively say “I loved this!” rather than leave it to the like button.

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          1. No, I like it too to give a nod to a clever tweet that I don’t have anything more to say about. I can definitely see the appeal for communities where discussion is key though.

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  3. I hope the break help a bit though and take more time if you need it! I’m excited to see what you’ve got planned. I know I’m so bad at blog hopping because I just feel like no cares what I have to say 😂 I definitely need to put myself out there more! Hopefully we can both start commenting more! 💕 love your blog so I’m glad you’re back

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    1. I’m ready to be back now, I can’t wait to blog again! Aw no, I’m sure people would ADORE seeing you comment on their blogs and would definitely be interested in what you have to say (I know I am)!
      Thank you so so much ❤ 🙂

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  4. It’s great to hear from you again, love! ❤ I've missed reading your wonderful, thoughtful posts! I can absolutely relate with the strange feeling of being distant in the blogosphere! Just this month, I decided to cut back a bit on my blogging, and I can't help but feel as though I'm missing a part of myself! But it's important to remember that we do need breaks sometimes, when our busy lives interfere!

    I'm looking forward to seeing your upcoming posts!

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  5. Hello, I’m kind of new to this entire book blogging thing, so it’s somewhat difficult for me to know what to reply to posts (same goes for booktube for me). But I simply love your posts, so thank you for writing them! There are so open and honest, thanks for keeping them up! And I’ll try and reply more but I guess that I might need some time to get used to it.

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    1. Hi! It definitely can be hard to know what to comment – sometimes even I skip commenting on people’s posts just because I’m at a loss for words at that moment. But just a simple comment (like the one you sent here!) saying you loved a post is always appreciated! Thank you so much for this!

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  6. Health should always be your main priority so I’m sure nobody blames you for taking a break (and I hope you don’t, too). Your content is always top notch (I’ve followed you YT longer than your blog I must admit) and I hope that people ypu may have lost contact with peek out of the woodwork when they see that you are back 🙂

    Your upcoming content looks very interesting (I do like a good favourites post) , I’ll be keeping a special eye out for the folklore review!

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    1. I do find it hard to prioritise health over everything else I want to do, but it’s true that once your health takes a dive, everything else is bound to follow. I’m feeling motivated to get back to it now though 🙂 And thank you so much! The fact that you’ve followed both my booktube AND blog really means a lot!
      The folklore review should be coming soon as I finished it last night 😀

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  7. Welcome back Ashleigh! I’m on a semi hiatus myself and I can feel myself getting physically sick… BUT, I do agree with your point on “letting go of people without realizing”. I’ve been around for 5 years and it’s sad to think about all those bloggers that welcome me into the community in those first few months, who talked to me and tagged me and commented… Now, I don’t think any of them are active blogger anymore since I rarely see them on my timeline, and it saddened me too. But then I also understand that life goes on and so does their priorities 🙂

    I can’t wait to read your folklore post!

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    1. I hope you start feeling better soon rather than worse, there’s nothing that gets you down quite so easily as being sick 😦 ❤ And it's definitely hard to look back and notice the people who have dropped out of your life, in a way. But at least they were there for some part of it, right?
      My folklore post should be up sometime soon, I finished reading the book last night! 🙂

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  8. Welcome back! And well done for speaking out about this. A couple of times a year, I get a bit of burnout myself. This year has been particularly challenging. I have a habit of just pushing through until my body forces me to listen – so I’m glad yours did the same and forced you to take some downtime! I look forward to seeing what’s to come and hope you will be feeling well again soon ❤

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  9. I really get the thing about commenting. I love to read blog posts and watching videos, but I rarely comment, which is pretty stupid, considering as a fellow blogger, I get really happy when I see a comment on my content, so why don’t I make someone else happy with a comment, even only if it’s just saying that I appreciate it or whatever. Definitely gonna make it my mission to comment more!! xoxo

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