What Happens When You Are Unhappy Or Uninspired?

{via}

There seems to be somewhat of a blogging funk in the blogosphere.
One of the most frequent questions I get from other bloggers is always along the lines of:
"How do I not be boring?""Where do you get ideas for posts?""How do I keep coming up with new content?"
My answer is usually that I keep a notebook with me and whenever I come up with an idea from something around me, I jot it down. Then on those days where I can't think of what to write, I go to that notebook and pick an idea.
Do I actually do this? Yes. But lately I have felt more uninspired and more restless when it comes to my blog.
This seems to be common across a lot of blogs. Maybe it's the nice weather, people wanting to spend more time outside? Maybe it's because of summer, kids and people out of school so they want to enjoy their free time?
I know as I have found more friends in our new city, I find myself wanting to go out and meet up with them, rather than blog as much. And I know that is great! I always think that we, as bloggers, should never give up any opportunity to have real life community with others in order to sit at home and blog.
Last month an insane amount of bloggers did the "blogging a day" challenge. I am sure that if you didn't do it yourself, you saw it blowing up your feeds. This is not a knock on anyone who participated, this is just the truth:
By day 3 I don't think I clicked on any more posts for the rest of the month from bloggers who were doing it.

{via}

Not because I don't love my dear sweet blogging friends, but because I didn't want to read the same post 1000 times in a row. While some people may have actually wanted to challenge themselves to post every day, these are the types of things we bloggers do when we need a little help to get the juices flowing.
I am just as guilty of this. I always start link ups...and then I end up disliking them a few short weeks into the series. My one exception is the Preparing For A Little One series because the content is so new and helpful every week. But, for all my other link ups, I get to a point where I loathe them. I hate that they make me post the same thing every week. Before you know it, your whole week is planned out and there aren't any free openings for you to post about what you really want to! (unless you want to post multiple times a week).
As I went through my hundreds of blogs on my Bloglovin feed this morning (and even looked at a past few days), the majority of posts were a) link ups or b) giveaways. Where has all of the heartfelt and original content gone?!
I am currently doing a great series in the afternoon featuring small businesses. I have gotten some flack for having a review/giveaway of a shop every day. I started this series to highlight small businesses and to also show others that there are tons of places you can purchase products from. Most of these shops were kind enough to give away free items from their shops. There isn't really a negative to this series: discovering new places to shop + opportunities for free items. I am so happy that I am working with these businesses and I don't regret my choice to do so. If you are one of my readers who doesn't like these posts, then I can tell you they will be going up at 12pm MST every week day for quite some time, so it is totally ok if you avoid my blog at that time period each day.
But as for the rest of my blog, I want to really focus on finding heartfelt things to write about. Some link ups and series I have already committed to, so I will be finishing them out. But I am SO looking forward to trying my hardest to write more for me.
At the same time, I would love to read more posts like that from all of you! I think personal posts are how we bloggers connect and how we really get to know each other. When I say "personal", I'm not referring to "bare your soul posts", although those definitely fall into personal. I'm saying even simple posts where you share your thoughts and opinions on anything!
I know this can be daunting because we often have hard times being creative or thinking about items to talk about. So I am creating a new tab on my blog. It is called "Get Inspired". If you click on it, there is a link to submit your creative ideas for posts. You can say:
"Write about the hardest decision you have ever made.""What is important to you in a mate?""What are 5 things you wish you knew at 18?""Where was the best place you have ever visited on vacation?"
ANYTHING! Submit your prompts and they will be listed on the tab. Then whenever you want inspiration, come on over and pick something you can write about. I think this will be a great resource! By having so many ideas to choose from, there will be little chance that 50 other bloggers would pick to post on the same topic as you.
In order for it to start off, I would love any of you to submit topics you would love to offer up. Just click the link below and your topic will be added to the tab. I really wanted to do this to encourage you all to write from your hearts! I know I love reading things from you and I love sharing on my blog as well (:

Click here to submit your topic ideas

Check out one of the sweetest ladies I know: