The ZEAL for Blogging - My Realizations from the A to Z Challenge

Credits to Brand Surgery

"Tyne, do you wanna join the A to Z Challenge? You have to blog everyday in April. It'll be fun!"

"Wow! I wonder if I can write about something everyday for the next 30 days."

"This is my 3rd year already. You should be good too!"

"O.K."

"I already signed you up."

"LOL!"

And that was the start of the crazy-blogging-everyday-no-skipping-sleeping-late challenge!

I swear I have never blogged this religiously in my entire 5 years of having this site! But it's quite addictive and compelling, actually.

These are my realizations about blogging in the last 30 days with the A to Z challenge:

Blogging is a Commitment. At first, it felt like I jumped into marriage without being ready for it. Like any commitment, it requires dedication. You need to devote time while juggling all your other activities. Talk about sleeping around 2:00 a.m. almost everyday.  I also use my lunch time to write my blogs just to keep up with the challenge. Imagine that! 

Blogging reaffirms my passion for writing. I consider writing as my ministry. I aspire to make a difference one blog post at a time. In fact, I do wish to author a book someday. And I realized over the last 30 days how passionate I am about this gift. I spend at least 3 hours per day for a blog post including research time, editing of photos and proof-reading. I always aim to leave my readers with something to learn, laugh or be inspired about. I have come to appreciate writing all the more through this challenge.

Blogging has been a pathway for me to meet more people. I have never (virtually) met that many people from across the globe before, sharing the same passion for writing. Imagine there are over a thousand of bloggers participating this year. This challenge has paved the way for me to connect to people by walking through their sanctuary of thoughts and insights. It's like knowing their life story even before meeting them in person. I have so much respect for writers who bare their life stories and share their gift of writing. On a personal note, I appreciate that Dee and I have become much closer despite the fact that we live in different continents now. Because of this A to Z challenge, we had to chat everyday. And I'd like to thank her for signing me up, helping me with my site (for free!) and for inspiring me to blog every single day.

Blogging keeps me abreast and informed about anything. With the wide variety of themes on this year's challenge, I have read through the most interesting facts, stories and insights from the blogs I visited. Thanks to the power of internet, I can learn a lot of things from travels, to lifestyle, writing fictions, current events, photography, grammar, selfies, about love, faith, dating, singlehood, marriage, just about anything and everything. By visiting blogs, I am educating myself. I got inspired all the more to hone my writing skills. 

Blogging has opened me to a lot of possibilities. The A to Z challenge has afforded me the opportunity to expand my network and reach a wider audience. I get surprised to see my stat every time I check my google analytics report. Support from fellow bloggers who visit my page and leave insightful comments made me love what I do all the more. Also, there is that opportunity to earn from blogging. I know a few friends who get perks like being invited to try new products, dishes or services and subsequently get paid for their write-up or review.  And there are those who found love in the blogging world. The possibilities are just boundless.

So here are my Top 5 Posts:

Oh My G - My 5 Types of GIRLFRIENDS

APRIL Love Fools

The JOURNEY of a Single Person

The 5 LOVE LANGUAGES

10 INCREDIBLE Countries I Travelled to

And here are some of my favorite blogs during this challenge:

A Deecoded Life's "Why I Kissed Online Dating Goodbye"

A Deecoded Life's "Kisses from the Future"

Chuck Allen's "What Happened to Alice" series of stories

Moonlight and her Shadow's "Stages of Love"

Brits in the US 23's "Geraldine"

Thank you A to Z Challenge for bringing out the zealous writer in me. 

And thank you everyone for visiting my page! You guys inspire me to write my best every time!

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This post is part of the A to Z April Challenge

a blog hop that goes through the alphabet

for all the days of April except Sundays.

Today's feature is Z for ZEAL.

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