Do you know that scene from Lilo and Stitch where Stitch says “hi” to Lilo for the first time?

That’s what it feels writing a blog post after four years—a tad awkward.

After an unintended four year hiatus, I am excited to return to writing on this blog!

As a brief reintroduction—I created this blog in 2016 when I was 17. Back then, I was in the throes of university in a new country and starting a book blog was a comforting way for me to geek about books. If reading was my form of escapism, book blogging was the way to prolong the distraction and obscure the lines between book world and the real world.

Starting this book blog was one of the best decisions I ever made—it allowed me to connect with book nerds from around the world, practice writing, and document my thoughts beyond books as I stumbled into adulthood.

Reading my old blog posts makes me nostalgic and grateful that I have a special time capsule from my formative, young adults years.

Given all of this, I never planned to take a break from blogging. In fact, I had hoped to dedicate more time to reading for fun and blogging once I finished my studies. So, what happened?

why i took a break from blogging

Four years ago, when I was 21, I moved from California to Washington state and started my first “big-girl job”. Candidly, that job made me so anxious. It made it progressively difficult for me to focus on my hobbies outside of work—reading included—and somewhat drained my spirit. Work was a major reason why I paused writing blog posts (and creating YouTube videos).

On a brighter note, I tried to counteract the slump the job put me in by making the most of my days off. For instance, I thoroughly enjoyed feeling like a tourist by exploring the new area I was in. I journeyed on solo days to Seattle, toured museums and local parks, and discovered neighborhood spots I still frequent to this day. Then when spring rolled around that year, I went out into the surrounding forests more and hiked as much as the weather allowed.

I’ve been documenting a little bit what life in Washington state is like on YouTube!

Around that time, I realized there were other roles in my field that were better suited for me and found a new job. Working in a new environment gave me the bandwidth to steadily work on restoring my zest for life. Specifically, I made more plans outside of work with friends and family and traveled whenever possible. Things were looking up, and the cherry on top was meeting someone special. Needless to say, I didn’t prioritize reading and book blogging during that period of my life.

why a blogging hiatus was good for me

While I never intended to take so much time off from blogging, taking a break from blogging allowed me to grow in other areas of my life and helped me become more present.

Although I didn’t spend an enormous amount of time blogging and was selective about what I shared online, blogging did consume a sizeable chunk of my free time pre-move-and-big-girl-job. When I was wading through the funk after my move, I registered the importance of fostering the relationships in my personal life and having tangible events to look forward to offline that I could keep to myself.

Blogging was paradoxical at times because it allowed me to ruminate about what was happening in my life, yet sometimes it detracted from the present moment. For example, when writing blog posts, I sometimes missed out things like going on a walk with my mom or trying a new recipe. There were small but important moments that I was passing up in favor of my hobby. It felt like it should be straightforward enough to carve out time for the different parts of my life: blogging, family and friends, reading, traveling, work, and so on. Yet, I couldn’t manage it all and needed to prioritize where I directed my energy. Time management was never my strong suit.

So while I had various motivations for blogging—from practicing writing to further reflecting on the books I read—it was refreshing not to feel compelled to write blog posts on recent reads or highlights in my life for whatever reason. As I had discussed in one of my last blog posts four years ago, there was also a part of me that sometimes felt like I was reading for the sake of content. During my time away from blogging, I wound up slowing down how much I was reading and became more selective of what I read, since I was prioritizing other things.

It was like I paused my tiny online presence and hit play on the rest of my life.

In a way, taking a break from blogging lead me to additional things that fulfilled me and made me feel more well-balanced. I can look back at the past four years now and can say I did live more in the moment—one of my chronic aspirations. I genuinely enjoyed being more present for so many firsts—from my first apartment to my first time seeing the Eiffel Tower! I appreciated the fact that not everything I did or thought needed to be documented or dissected for meaning.

In the time I took off from blogging, I also became more open and relaxed about disclosing to people in my personal life that I have a blog (and Youtube channel). I had always felt protective about my little space on the internet, and something about people I knew reading my writing made me squeamish. However, I realized that it’s not that deep. Most people didn’t bother enough to read old blog posts or spend any conversation about it. Still, there was something fulfilling in knowing that the people I loved understood me and what brings me joy just a little bit better.

All of this empowers me to begin this new chapter of my blog with a more carefree mindset.

why i am blogging again

Four years and several rainy Pacific Northwest springs later, I finally found it within myself to sit down and write a blog post. Truthfully, this is not my first attempt to return to blogging. I have multiple unfinished drafts of discussion posts, wrap-ups, and a random book review I admittedly published in 2022 and then privated 🙈. I blame these half-hearted stabs at blogging again partly to my nature—I tend to operate based on feeling and I didn’t feel the pull to fully commit to blogging again. For my sake, I wanted to be able to go back to a blogging schedule I was satisfied with. Generally, I was still embracing the new independence and career changes of my early twenties.

At the back of my mind though, I never stopped thinking about this blog and the blogging community.

I miss blogging for all the reasons I began it in the first place: babbling about whatever caught my interest and practicing my writing. I miss pouring time and effort just to end up with the shortest, mini book reviews and being able to bookmark the most trivial thoughts I recently encountered, whether fiction or in-person. The truth is I’ll away love documenting my life in some capacity—it’s the reason I started making YouTube videos again last year about my recent reads and travel. And honestly, I do miss the way blogging pushed me to read.

I find myself often reminiscing over the time I dedicated to reading other blogs and the unique connection I felt with fellow bloggers. There is something so special about being part of the book blogging community as social media and the world at large continues to change. I still feel the same comfort writing a blog post as I did four years ago, knowing that the audience receiving it feels like old pen pals.

Part me of wonders, “Will anyone actually read this? Who cares?” But in case anyone stumbles across this, I wanted to say—hi!

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Thank you for reading! Took me a second to get used to the changes to the WordPress editor lol.

How have you been? What’s the longest break you’ve taken from blogging, if any? How was it taking a break? What was it like creating blog posts again? Let me know 🙂

WHERE ELSE TO FIND ME: GOODREADS / YOUTUBE