Day 1641: A Different Kind of Blog

There are days like today every so often, when I'm hopelessly drowning in blog posts and I get a little frustrated with the kind of blog I write. Not only am I a topic-specific blog, but I'm a daily topic-specific blog, and I've worked very hard over the past few years to avoid repeating myself over and over again. It's hard, especially when I get behind, to think of original ideas that fit within the guidelines I've created for myself, and even when I'm totally caught up and I only have to come up with one blog topic a day instead of twelve, it's still frequently difficult to find something I feel people might want to read about in relation to Disney. 

But then there's also the realization that Everyday Disney isn't even your typical Disney blog. Many Disney blogs out there focus on news or tips and tricks for your Disney vacation, and while I myself subscribe to many of those blogs, I find myself jealous of how easy it must be to come up with continuous content in those cases. Here, I post once a day, and only once a day. If it's 3pm and suddenly Disney announces that they're closing Epcot permanently, but I already had a blog post up at 11 am, we're waiting until tomorrow to talk about it. Here, I find little bits of Disney in the outside world and bring them to life through blog posts. The problem is, sometimes the outside world doesn't directly line up with the Disney universe. Here, I strive to make the ordinary feel a little less ordinary and a little more magical, but sometimes one has to accept that, perhaps, a reader won't be interested in hearing about how salt can be related to The Magic Kingdom. 

Not every post on Everyday Disney is a prime example of the Disney magic either. Some are more about me than the parks and films. Some take place at a Disney Park and others don't. Some fit right in with what the other blogs are talking about and some fall completely off the beaten path. In other words, and not to toot my own horn here, I'm not sure there's another blog out there quite like Everyday Disney. It's a personal blog and a news blog and a special interest blog and a daily blog and more all rolled into one. 

Everyday Disney, like the Disney Parks themselves, is always evolving, and as we get closer and closer to year 5, it's time to really see what we can do. I've covered the basics, we've gone in-depth on the traditional, and now it's time to dig a little deeper to see what it is we're missing. So with new series like DCP Wednesdays, A to Z Disney, 50 States, and Random Disney Things, let's get exploring and keep going, because Adventure is Out There, and now it's time to find it. 

Have a magical day! 

P.S. - Think of this blog post as a sort of new Mission Statement for Everyday Disney. With a list of 314 blog post topics to work on over the next few months, I was feeling a bit overwhelmed, and then I realized that it's time for a new mission in addition to a new look. So for the rest of 2017, the theme here at Everyday Disney is "Dig a Little Deeper," which is ironic considering it's same theme of the first blog post I wrote for the year, and it's time to find out who we are and what we're missing! 

Day 823: The Future Is Real

One of the scariest things, in my opinion, is the future. It's just out there in the great, wide unknown, taunting you every step of the way. Today was definitely one of those days when the future felt wide open and terrifying all at the same time, especially as I worked on my resume and cover letter for job applications as I head into the summer and upcoming school year. But the entire process has also made me think a bit more about Everyday Disney and what blogging has taught me about the future and how to approach it. After all, because of the success I've found with this blog and thanks to the skills I've learned developing it, I can list Everyday Disney on my resume, which is huge in my world. After all, this blog is pure proof of the things I've learned over the past two years, as Everyday Disney has been as much of a learning experience as anything else, and that only makes me more excited to continue moving forward and trying new things.

However, that's not all that Everyday Disney and daily blogging has taught me, so I figured I would make a post out of it. Planning for the future, in regards to my career, education and Everyday Disney itself, has been a huge part of my day today. Plus, just as in anything else, Disney plays an important role in what I've learned here.

1. Appreciate the Here and Now

I have a quote on my desk that reads "Don't Count the Days, Make the Days Count," something that I've sort of adopted as my motto for this school year. Megan and I occasionally talk about the depressing fact that in just over two years, I hope to leave Wisconsin and I will no longer be a simple five minute drive from my best friend, not to mention the fact that we currently live together at school. I'll be going out into the Great Wide Somewhere and, if everything works out, I won't be coming back. So I have to appreciate where I am right now. When you're a daily blogger, especially on a topic like finding Disney in everyday life, you have to really stop and think about each and everyday. It's not just a question of "What in my day involved Disney?" It's more complicated. It might be "What made me smile today?" or "What's going to be the most important connection for the blog post." When you do that, when you stop and reflect on your day, you're collecting memories of moments that you'll cherish when you are far away and alone. It's the same reason I keep a journal, because it allows me to come back and say "I remember that day! That was fun!" You get to do that with a daily blog too, and it all definitely helps you appreciate the happiness that currently surrounds you.

2. Keep it Positive

We all have bad days, and if you go back through the continuation of Everyday Disney, I'm sure you can pinpoint my own "Bad Days." There are plenty of them, moments where I'm frustrated, some where I'm just downright angry and some posts where I'm on the verge of tears. But ultimately, we can't focus on the bad things in our lives. We have to keep smiling, and that's one of the reasons I adored participating in Jennifer Morrison's 101 Smiles Campaign, where you posted a picture of something that made you smile every day for 101 days. It's not until a project like 101 Smiles that you really realize just how many opportunities you have to be happy, When you blog, you have to maintain that same positive atmosphere, because it's going to be more approachable for readers, and it's through happy moments that you're going to connect with your readers.

3. Look For the Little Things

Just like finding an appreciation for the here and now, Everyday Disney has certainly provided me with the ability to look for the little things. As huge as a company like Disney is, by day 823, there's only so many things left for you to talk about on a daily basis, and let me tell you, it only gets harder. You have to be relevant and original at the same time, all while sticking to your brand and connecting with an audience. As I said a while back, finding legitimate references to Disney that are different from the 800 other references you've already talked about is incredibly difficult, but the second you start looking at the little things that happen in your life, a new world opens up. Sometimes that means talking about the most random Disney Deja Vu, like a train whistle or the food you ate for lunch. Other times it might mean a new Disney-related project you're working on. And, if you're like me, it might include surprising your father and brother with a trip to Disney World in June. They all make for relevant topics, if only you figure out how to word them and relate them to the blog as a whole.

4. Organization is Key

I remember, earlier this year, sitting for around six hours in the basement of my college library on a giant computer table trying to record and organize every single day of Everyday Disney. If, at the end of the year, your blog post total is 363, you've obviously missed something, and that's ultimately going to reflect badly when a new visitor realizes that, since you're a daily blogger, there should be 365. So I found a new system, and I now keep a record of every post I write for a number of reasons. Beyond that, I constantly have a list of new goals I want to accomplish and improvements I wish to make, as well as a rough idea of topics that might appear in future posts. Without that system in place, everything would be absolutely chaotic, and I can tell you right now that nothing would get done, not by a long shot. After all, keeping 100 blog posts straight is difficult, much less 800.

5. Keep Moving Forward

Looking back at where you came from is great, and it can be really inspiring, but don't let it hold you down. If I go back to the early days of Everyday Disney, sometimes I cringe at my writing, a topic I wrote on, or my blatant unprofessionalism in those early days. However, back then Everyday Disney was definitely more of a personal blog, a quest to blog about Disney everyday for an entire year and find the little ways my favorite thing has woven its way into my life. Now, things have gotten much bigger. There's an Instagram Challenge going on, I'm listing Everyday Disney on my resume, and I'm writing a post about what daily blogging for the past two + years has taught me. If the things I've learned so far are any indication, Everyday Disney is going to keep growing, and I'll keep growing right along with it. I don't know what it will become, and I don't know where I will end up, but you can bet I'm going to keep blogging about it every step of the way.

Have a magical day!

Day 639: How I Blog

Believe it or not, October 1 is the absolute LAST day I have to make up. That's right, this is the last post that has been randomly sitting on my document as not finished for the last how long. Every single post previous to it has been completed, whether the topic on that day is relevant to that particular moment in time or not. After I finish this post, I'll have officially completed the 669 blog posts that equal October 29 (as today's actual blog post won't be written until later tonight). I've been sitting at my computer since 10 this morning, with a short break here and there to eat or talk with a roommate. It's now almost 4 in the afternoon, and I've got other things going on this evening that mean I finished just in time.

Since I've spent the last how long working on the blog and I gave a bit of a glimpse into my process of making up these posts a while back, I figured I would go into a bit more detail, simply because I'm feeling really accomplished right now.

As I mentioned on a post a long while ago, I have a Google Document that lists every single day I've had to make up since April 18, 2014. Think about that for a second. It's the end of October. That's how long this has been going on. I took a "month off" in June, which I then made up later on in the year (such as just a few minutes ago actually). On that list, a blog post remains in bold lettering until it's completed, making it easier for me to see what day I'm working on, what date it's for and what the title is.

But before the post can even have a title and then be written, it needs a topic, which is a whole other story. I have an entire notebook set aside just for Disney stuff, and there's already been more than a few pages dedicated just to trying to come up with blog post topic ideas. Sometimes, such as right now, there are several blog post topics already lined up. I have topics ready to go for today, tomorrow (October 31) and the day after, meaning that although I won't actually sit and write those posts until later, they already have titles and topics associated with them. They stay in that bold format until I actually hit publish though! 

Once a blog post is published though, the title of the post gets added to a HUGE master list of all the titles I've ever used on any post. The point in this? It helps to make sure I only use each title once, therefore separating every single post from all the others. If I already used the title, I need to find another one that still fits. Luckily, the search feature makes it really easy to figure out if a title is already taken. 

The process of actually sitting down and writing the posts is actually the quick part most of the time. Once the topic and title and date are set, I just have to sit and type for a while. And once it's posted, it means it's time to hit the social media and share it all. Of course, lately that hasn't been an option because of how far behind I was, but with this last updated blog post, I am very excited about the fact that my social media presence for Everyday Disney cannot only continue, but expand. Thank goodness.

I can't believe I'm caught up. You literally don't know how excited that makes me. Hundreds of days, all completed. Finally. I guess there really is a little bit of Disney every single day, isn't there?!?

Have a magical day!

(Note: This blog post was written on October 30).