A Wedding Blog?

Think Splendid is a blog dedicated to the business behind wedding and event planning. Liene Stevens, the author of this blog, runs Splendid Communications, a “digital marketing firm specialized in the wedding and event industries”. She uses this blog not only to discuss business ideas, but also to talk about people – what drives us and moves us, and what we know we are all thinking but are too afraid to vocalize. Stevens sees blogging as a form of old-fashioned conversations, as opposed to a way of keeping up with new trends in technology, and she blogs quite frequently. On average, Stevens has close to 20 blog posts per month, most with a handful of comments or reactions. Her blogs are mostly professional, detailed when discussing the business side of things, and a little less detailed when discussing personal issues. This seems to leave room for interpretation and thought, which I think her readers greatly appreciate. 

One of the more interesting blog post written by Stevens is titled, Waiting for the Rinse Cycle to Complete. In this post, she warns her audience that “social media doesn’t turn a person into a hero or a fraud; it amplifies who they already are”. Although this piece is short, taking up a mere four lines of text, each word resonates. Stevens writes that the truth about a person’s personality will come out in due time – there is no point in trying to hide it. However, we must also realize that discovering the truth will take patience. This blog post does not specifically relate to my topic, but after reading Stevens’ post I felt the need to re-evaluate the purpose of my blog. If I am going to be discussing something that I am already so passionate about, will this medium of communication really amplify my feelings and make my stories and opinions seem too over the top to my audience? I don't want to seem like I’m “making a mountain out of a molehill”. Stevens’ post reminded me that I need to keep myself in check when writing – I don’t want to come off as the “oddball, on steroids”, as one of her followers would put it.

Another one of Stevens’ posts that resonated with me is titled, Being Yourself. In this post, Stevens makes the distinction between what is means to be “different” and what it means to be “unique”. Stevens believes, “different is temporary and easy to duplicate”, whereas, “unique is you”. Others can mimic the things about you that are different, but they can never be you. After reading Stevens’ post, I reflected on my own “Hello, World” post, in which I use the words “different” and “unique” interchangeably. Though I understand her word usage argument, I think I will stick to what I wrote. The focuses of our posts are different, even though we end with the same sentiments. I use my own stories to explain why I am different (or unique, as Stevens would say) and that people who are different should be proud of what makes them different, whereas Stevens argues that everyone should aim to be unique. This post just gave me something to think about.

These blog posts, tagged as topics of “Personal Development”, represent two of many posts on Think Splendid. Though at first glance, I could not quite grasp why Stevens would blog about such issues when her site clearly deals with her wedding business. But after reading some of her blog posts, I came to the conclusion that she writes these posts to remind herself to avoid getting lost in all the hustle and bustle of the wedding industry. Although she uses specific examples that apply to her business, she writes in a way so that the reader can ignore the technicalities of her examples and make these lessons applicable to their own lives. Likewise, I want to share some of my own experiences as an Asian hula dancer who doesn’t fit in with my native Hawaiian counterparts, and I want people reading my blog to find a way to connect to my story even though they most likely won’t share my experiences.