When I was sixteen, I started making jewelry in my Mom’s basement. I was bored one day and she had trays full of beads in our craft room, so I played. After a few hours what had begun as play, became my obsession.
I looked at gems like they were colorful candies. Sifted through strands of iridescent seed beads. Strung silver spacers between discs of turquoise and tourmaline.
It didn’t take long before my friends and classmates noticed my new adornments. Within a day I had a backorder of necklaces to make for school dances.
I liked making jewelry. Whether I was earning money or not. I liked the meticulousness of it. I liked the creativity of it. I shopped for hours at the bead store and spent every penny I had on new designs. While my friends were out partying on the weekends with boys from other school districts and getting drunk in the woods, I sat on the sofa watching re-runs of The Golden Girls counting seed beads one by one, holding craft wire between my teeth. Sometimes I’d make several new pieces in one night.
By the time I got to college, my skill level soared. Family and friends encouraged me to start selling at gatherings (a la Tupperware parties) and to approach shops. I figured why not make money doing something that I loved.
However once I approached my jewelry-making as more than a hobby, I was faced with resistance. I felt discouraged and insecure when shops rejected my work. I felt frustrated when I could hardly sell a necklace for the cost of the materials. I felt like a failure when I pre-sold three copies of one piece and returned to the store to discover they had discontinued the beads I needed.
The solution, others told me, was to expand. To order supplies online in bulk from wholesalers. To make prototypes and outsource the work to China. To use cheaper materials so I could make bigger profit margins.
But I liked shopping at my little corner bead shop where everyone knew my name. I liked spending hours carefully twisting wire at my desk in my bedroom. I liked using real stones that felt like precious jewels in my hands.
Eventually, I decided that it was all or nothing. I suppose it’s like when you’ve been in a happy relationship for years, and suddenly your partner demands you get married or break up. You don’t want the relationship to change, but you don’t want it to end either.
Rather than take things to the next level, I chose to end it. I chose to give up making jewelry.
I continued pursuing my Business degree. I figured that even a passion would become a burden if you created a business out of it. I decided to keep my hobbies as hobbies and my work as work.
This story loomed in my head six years later when I started blogging. More than anything, I didn’t want to re-enact it. I didn’t want to take something that once was so much fun, that once brought me so much joy, and to corrupt it. To destroy it.
So I didn’t approach my blog like a business.
I wrote whatever I wanted, kept it ad free, and threw everything I learned in Business school and in my Marketing career out the window. I let it be my passion project without the need for it to earn money.
For two years I wrote regularly on my blog, on Facebook, on Twitter, on Instagram, and in my newsletter without making a penny. I didn’t need it to earn money because it already served enough of a purpose: it brought me joy.
Instead I worked as a freelance writer and lived on very little money, spending more time on my blog than on paid work.
People told me I was crazy. They told me I needed to approach it like a business. When they heard how big my following was, they told me that I needed to be monetizing. I defensively argued against it, protecting my precious blog like it was my child who outsiders were trying to throw into show business.
Even though I wasn’t making money, I felt like I was receiving as much value back as I was putting out. I felt like every time I posted my words and my pictures to the page, I got as much out of it from writing it, as someone else might from reading it. When I sat writing in the hostel lobby while other travelers partied, I remembered the passion of the teenage girl who sat on the sofa with bead strands between her teeth.
Then, a year ago, something shifted.
Maybe I got tired of waiting months to get paid by my freelance-writing clients. Maybe I was sick of living on $20 a day in Southeast Asia. Maybe I thought I was depriving myself of financial wealth because in leaving my old life behind, I had rejected everything about it. Maybe I thought that deep down I didn’t believe I deserved to earn a living by doing what I loved. Maybe I thought things could be different.
I decided it was time to start earning a living from my blog.
In the process, I did all kinds of things I had once sworn I would never do. I found myself entrenched in the dirty world of blogging. I accepted (and hid) sponsored posts on my website to make a quick buck and I accepted sponsored travel because I wasn’t sure how else I could afford it. I limited my options to what other bloggers were doing, none of which felt sustainable for me.
The sweet treats I vowed I’d never taste became my bread and butter.
Within six months I was on a full blown, never ending press trip. In the beginning, it was incredible. I went way outside my comfort zone by traveling in the Arctic in the dead of winter, and discovered I actually like snow. I learned to ski, slept in igloos, and made friends with some very beautiful souls. I fell in love with Lapland and Finland became one of my favorite countries I’ve ever been to.
But after a month, I’d had enough.
Instead of backpacking and riding local buses in developing countries, I was skiing in the Alps and sleeping in four star hotels.
I had some high moments, but it wasn’t really what I wanted overall. Yes, I had some phenomenal experiences without spending money, but I was working constantly without getting paid. My travels were free, but they came at a cost.
I wanted to get back to the travel I used to know. I wanted to mingle with backpackers and get my feet dirty and feel uncomfortable yet alive. But I worried that I couldn’t do it anymore. If I knew that I could sleep for free in a resort, why would I pay for a dorm room? Even though that’s what I wanted, I couldn’t seem to justify it.
I felt like traveling through sponsorships had corrupted me, and most upsetting of all, it had taken the joy out of travel.
By the time I got to Spain, I couldn’t look at anything with wonder anymore. I faked smiles and nodded along when people I met told me I was the luckiest person in the world. I faced the harsh reality that even traveling could feel like work.
Travel, my deepest, purest passion, had lost its luster. I had lost my wanderlust.
So finally, I said enough. I cut my trip short and booked a flight back to the USA from Morocco. I was seriously burned out on travel, and I wanted, I needed, a break.
I felt flooded with creativity upon returning home. By finally giving myself a chance to rest, the posts I had brewing inside of me for years came pouring out. I focused less on sharing my travels and self-discoveries, and more on answering the questions people ask me all of the time. I stopped writing posts that served as self-therapy sessions, and started writing helpful resources to show my readers how to travel the world and create the life of their dreams.
I started working with an amazing Marketing Coach, a woman who shared my mindset and had traveled with me in Thailand and Bali. She challenged me to see my potential and to allow myself to dream big.
Within a few weeks of making these changes, every blog post I published went viral. I got thousands of new Facebook followers and newsletter subscribers within a week. My traffic surpassed 1,000,000 unique monthly viewers. I went from selling five ebooks a month to fifty. My inbox was flooded with new readers telling me how much they loved my blog. To my delight, readers I’ve had since the beginning also told me how much they loved my new direction.
I was on cloud nine. I was brimming with energy, exploding with creativity, and more encouraged than I had been in so long. I considered these outcomes to be spectacular miracles that I had created myself, and shared my process in my post How to Manifest Miracles to Create the Life of Your Dreams. I decided to spend the rest of the summer in Seattle, so that I could focus entirely on getting work done on my blog.
And then, my engine overheated.
I felt pressure. Pressure to produce viral content constantly. Pressure to please. Pressure to sell. Pressure to progress. Pressure to serve. Pressure to utilize every moment in the day towards completing my business goals, despite it being the sunniest summer in Seattle history.
My web traffic slowly went down. People commented that I was an insensitive privileged white girl, that I was irresponsible and reckless for not having health insurance, that I sold sugar-coated white washed follow your dreams propaganda, and all other sorts of mean things. And as much as I can say “haters gonna hate,” not being at least a lil’ bit affected by haters is easier said than done.
Sometimes I sold ebooks, other times I didn’t. Sometimes my Facebook posts went viral, other times they didn’t. As my traffic and engagement fluctuated, so did my will. I pushed on despite the fact that I was working 10 hours a day, earning around $40 if I was lucky.
The thought of writing another blog post exhausted me. I was so sick and tired of writing resourceful guides and I was so sick and tired of selling myself and I was so totally uninspired.
Then came the meltdown.
It happened while I was sitting in a café on an overcast day in Seattle, working on a new project for my blog. This was the second version worked on, the first being 10,000 words, which I deemed useless as soon as it was done.
Just as I had nearly finished the next version, I suddenly realized that it didn’t make sense. That once again, I’d be throwing thousands of words and days of work out the window. The work I had chosen over playing in the sunshine with my nephew or hiking in the mountains with my friends had been for nothing.
It sounds ridiculous, but in that moment I felt like I had been punched in the stomach.
I looked at my list of upcoming projects for inspiration to shift my outlook. The things that once gave me so much excitement now appeared as added tasks on my list. Even the thought of being back in Costa Rica next month couldn’t lift me. I imagined myself being tethered to my laptop with my to do list instead of playing at the beach.
Then the painful truth surfaced.
“Something that I used to love more than anything, has become something that I hate more than anything.”
I felt the fear I had buried for weeks seep out my pores. I knew that even my blog, something that I once said I’d keep doing even if I won the lottery, had become a burden. It had become heavy with the pressure of needing to amount to something. Feeling that pressure, I wanted more than anything to give up.
Why was I doing this when I could throw my laptop into the ocean and go and teach yoga on a deserted island? Why was I doing this when I could offer travel consulting at $100 an hour? Why was I doing this when I could write freelance articles and live on a shoestring, yet travel anywhere I wanted and have no stress?
Because giving up scared me even more than not giving up. If I wasn’t “This American Girl,” who was I?
I looked back at the project that had set me off on this tirade. Ironically, I had finished all of it, except for the last section, entitled “Don’t Give Up,” along with this quote by Thomas Edison: “Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up”
Beneath it, I wrote this:
Pursuing your dreams isn’t easy. Sometimes it’s really, really f*&king hard.
You may get discouraged. You may wonder how you can keep going. You may wonder if you made a huge mistake. You may want to give up.
But a bigger part of you knows that you can’t give up. You can’t give up because there is no going back. You’re already on the path and you can’t let a roadblock keep you from moving forward.
I know how it feels to be discouraged. But I also know that you can do this. I know that you are powerful. I know that you can do anything. I know that where there is a will there is way. I know that you are a fierce badass.
As hard as it feels, I know that now is not the time to give up when I’ve worked so hard for so long.
But I also know that I need to find greater balance. I need to make more time for Camille. I need to get away from the computer and spend more time in nature. I need to give less energy to my online tribe, and more energy to my family tribe. I need to get back to my way of traveling, so I can remember the way of living that stirs my soul and inspires me to share.
I need to attach less to the outcome of my work so I can feel more joy in creating it. I need to hold onto my empowerment, but remember to trust in a grander scheme outside my control.
I need to write not only for you, but for me too.
Because that’s how this whole blog started. With the little poems and stories I wrote to myself because I needed to release them. Eventually some people started reading them, perhaps even you started reading them, and when they touched you, you reminded me that we are never alone.
I’m not quitting blogging, but I am quitting blogging as I’ve known it. I’m quitting blogging with the mentality that it has to be either a hobby or a paycheck. I’m quitting blogging with the mentality that my writing is only worth the comments and shares it receives. I’m quitting blogging with the mentality that being This American Girl is more important than just being me.
Yes, there will be more practical, resourceful guides to come. There will be more eBooks to come. There will be thousands more Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter posts to come. There will be more email updates to come. I will keep building my dream and my business, and I will keep sharing the wisdom I discover, to help others create the life of their dreams too. I will keep listening to your questions and answering them in the best way that I know how. I will keep holding this sacred space for you.
There’s no going backwards, and I don’t intend to.
But there will also be more of what I love. More poems. More stories. More words from my heart. More fearless creating. More fun. Whether they go viral or not, I will write them, because they need to be written, and maybe they need to be read. Even if there are less people reading.
There may be times when you don’t hear from me. I can’t promise that I’ll always write consistently. I can’t always promise that you’ll be down with what I’m writing either. I’m an artist, and an artist can’t wear a business suit every day of her life. But I can promise you that I will always be grateful for you coming here, and that I will always do my best to make it worthwhile.
As long as that’s enough, I can keep doing this. Deal?
With love and gratitude,
your friend Camille
Deal, Camille! and good luck on your new journey!
Thank you Stephanie <3
Yes! It’s enough! Even if you stop writing all together it already always was enough 🙂 One and a half years ago, I left a comment on one of your articles. I can’t find it anymore, but I remember it very well, cause it was and still is the only comment I have ever left on any website or blog ever. I was writing a thesis that consumed me on a subject that wasn’t close to my heart. It took me more than a year to finish and it was draining me of the once happy, creative, loving person I was. As one of many European students ”graduating fast”, ”getting better grades” and ”academic acknowledgement” is higher on the list than simply taking a breath and enjoying your life. How many times I said I couldn’t go on a holiday because I ”was already 24 and I didn’t even finish my Bsc yet”. I put ridiculous pressures on myself, convincing myself that I was meant to lead an unfulfilled life, working towards a job I didn’t want, to be able to pay the bills for my family. I was running so fast that I didn’t know how to slow down anymore and even in rest to-do lists and fears flew through my head. I was working towards a conditioned ”happines” and I blamed the world around me for not finding it. I was living in a dark turning spiral, untill I accidentely stumbled upon your blog. The world stopped for me. It felt like a breath of fresh air. I had finally slown down. Actually, I had stopped completely. I felt butterflies and a light weightedness that I hadn’t felt since I was a kid and the possibilities of life were endless. It opened a door and you completely shifted my perspective. I finished my Bachelor’s, sold all my stuff and started travelling the world. And I can say in all honesty: you can take full credit for inspiring me to do so. I used to be a bit of a collector (horder) and now I manage to live out of a small suitcase, I used to take everything personal and I have learned to let go, to be present. I used to be scared of heights, fish, love, driving, flying and have accepted and let go of all of them (except for the flying maybe :)). I have travelled for the last 14 months, I learned to ride motorcycles, I have fallen in love, I got my heart broken, I lived in airports, danced, loved and laughed, encountered amazing sunsets, nature, forests, cities. I had endless breathtaking experiences. But that doesn’t matter to me either. Cause when the glamour and thrill of travel started to fade, and I started to collect more crazy experience to find back that wonder. I again took a break through your blog. This time on a way deeper level. Wherever I am, I know I can feel peace now. I am definitely still walking this road and have so much more to learn, but I am doing so with a smile and an ease that at times feels so effortlessly. I can give more love to the people around me and I am happier than I ever was before. So whatever you decide to do, you have already done something incredibly beautiful.You have changed my life for the better. It seems almost silly that you don’t even know me, but that doesn’t mean it even matters one bit. I wish you all the best and even if you decide to retire forever, I will never be able to thank you enough x
Tess, words cannot express how touched, humbled, and INSPIRED I am by your comment. You took tremendous steps, you chose to take responsibility for your life, you chose to be a fearless badass. Keep walking your path of discovery, you inspire me just as much as I’ve inspired you. x
Camille 🙂
You are wonderful. You don´t have to prove anything to anyone, be honest to yourself, be gentle to yourself, love yourself. See who you really are and what you want.
I know sometimes what we want can fade when we do to what people wish from us. Joy of creating something wonderful disappears.
You know in the end we only answer to ourselves, have we loved enough, was there enough joy, was i compassionate and so on..
Do what you love to do, no matter what we readers say 🙂
With gentle hug,
Jari
Jari thank you for your kind, enlightening, and truthful response as always. <3
<3 <3 <3
xo
I’m in – keep it all coming! Receiving your email always brings a sunny light to my gray cubicle. Looking forward to where you take us next 🙂
Thank you Brenda I really appreciate that!! <3
Thank you.
Thank you for bringing me hope, always. Thank you for being honest.
Thank you for not giving up.
🙂
Kasi, THANK YOU for being here and letting me share my truth <3
Anytime!
Dear Camille,
I’ve been following your blog since day one. Love that you’re returning to the source. You’ve always known what feeds you. What I love about your writing is seeing a poetic soul aloft. Keep going. Your tribe will always be there.
Thank you Linda. I so appreciate you being part of my blog and part of my life <3
It’s totally understandable Camille! For similar reasons I am now quitting my job and going to find again all those things I used to love about life, while traveling of course. 🙂 Have fun, wherever your next adventure will be!!
Thank you Marie! I understand, it’s the same reason why I first left to go travel the world and discover my passions 🙂 I’m looking for more balance but I will keep blogging, and I’m so excited to be on the road again, in just a month! Let me know how your journey unfolds.
I LOVE this Camille! Good for you, keep it up and we’ll be here, reading along with you, whenever that is. 🙂
Thank you so much Ashley! xx
This is a great article for those struggling to be persistent. Thanks for sharing! And thanks for making me want to visit CR more than ever!
http://www.thisrainylife.com
You are so welcome!! xx Have you seen my ebook on Costa Rica already? https://www.thisamericangirl.com/ultimate-guide-costa-rica/
I will miss you posts so much Camille, I don’t know what it is, they are so comforting to me, and definitely a go to when I feel down, uninspired or in need of motivation. I think it’s because of how honest you are and how beautifully you write too 🙂
Lots of luck for your travels and writing, I have no doubt that there are many good things ahead for you!
Kat x
Thank you Kat! But no worries, I will still be here and still be posting, so keep checking in! I’m just not going to put the same level of pressure on myself 🙂 x
Thank you for an honest post! I’ve been reading your blog intensively for over half a year and it has had such a positive impact on my life. You write about things that are so universal that even though I’m not travelling I still can connect to what you write about life and living. There is so much wisdom in you and when you write honestly it really touches my soul and inspires me to live and love my life fully.
Katri, thank you so so much. It means a lot. So happy to hear I make a positive impact on your life!
I absolutely adore your style of writing and understand your reasons too. Keep up writing however you like it. I will follow you whether you post twice a week or twice a month. It should be fun and not put pressure on you. I wish you all the best!
Thank you Stef I really appreciate that <3
Deal! Keep kickin’ ass girl.
Thank you so much Molly <3
Camille, damn it…why you published this before mine? some part of it are so similar to what I’ve written (the post it’s been ready for weeks, but I’m too lazy to write the last sentence) so now it looks like I copied yours 🙂 Jokes aside, I agree with most of what you said. My story is a bit different, but I think most of the bloggers who started like us, for pure passion, are going to suffer from a few meltdowns like this. It’s part of the process.
The part about the balance is EXACTLY what I want my blog to be from now on too. I will also be publishing informative content, but I want MY VOICE to get back, loud and clear. I only had one article that went viral and that started the pressure to measure up with that “successful” moment. So wrong. I don’t want to lose my authenticity and, judging from this post, you definitely didn’t lose yours girl! Be real, be you and screw the numbers. They are only NUMBERS, your personality is so much better.
Erggg there are so many typos in my previous comment, but hey… you know what.. WHATEVER! No pressure 🙂
Thank you Clelia! This is such good advice for all of us, and I completely agree. Actually, the more of us bloggers write about this, the more we will share the message. Please share your post with me when it’s up <3
been feeling a little bit like that with my personal project these last months.
thanks for this post.
You’re welcome! You know, a lot of people have been feeling this lately, and if you follow the moon cycles or astrology, you’ll see that it’s a theme. But big shifts are going to happen starting Friday with the full moon, a “blue moon” as we had two full moons this month, and the more we go with the flow the more we’ll start to see the results of our efforts since 2012. xx
Hi Camille,
You are my inspiration. You have given me the courage to travel, i’m planning for my big break this year, I hope to hit the road next year. That’s life i guess, no matter we’ve achieved, there will always be a down time, but don’t let it get you down, embrace it, there’s gotta be something that we can learn from every situation.
Do what you love, live your life and don’t take things personally (like haters’ comment). You can choose to write or not, it’s your choice but whatever you love to do, don’t quit:) Follow your heart and everything will be ok. We all have different kind of life journey we want to take, there’s no right or wrong. All the best and maybe i’ll see you one day:D
God bless you xx
Thank you Vicka, I really appreciate it. Let us know how your travels unfold please!! xo
There are so many bloggers who have sold their souls to “the man”, and you can tell straight away when you land on their blogs. Thankfully yours isn’t one of them – phew! I am so happy to hear that you’re going to stay true to what makes you happy. I actually prefer your soul searching pieces so it would be great to see a healthy mix. I think there are too many bloggers preaching about how to travel already, it’s insane and after a while it gets boring (for the writer too, right?). Thanks for choosing to be different.
Thank you Rachel <3 It means a lot coming from a fellow blogger I admire xox
Get away from the screen, get away from the keyboard….go out and have adventures, refresh your soul!!
Your honesty is powerful and fierce! I will be here to welcome any and all posts no matter how frequent or infrequent
(Just don’t quit! You are my daily inspiration!)
Aw thank you girly! Yes, this is exactly what I’ve done. More time offline 🙂 x
Yup. Always amazed at how our journeys echo each other. Much love to you my dear <3
Thank you Kai x
Life’s a funny thing. You pursue interests you love, sometimes even for years then wake up one morning and suddenly, randomly not love it anymore. Sometimes its as sudden as that. Or ask yourself “why am i doing this” and realise, yep, I don’t know and I dont wanna anymore. So good luck . Life changes. Follow your heart .
Thank you Fiona. The key is not getting perfectionistic about it and just finding joy in the creation. I loved writing this post, and did it quickly, because it was what I wanted to write, unfiltered. xx
This is the first comment ever I write on a blog and I’m doing it to let you know how much I adore your blog. It’s my favorite travel blog by far and I love it because it is so different from all the other ones.. I love your words, insights and little stories you share with us and I wanna thank you for that. I hope it’ll bring you as much joy again soon as it used to do.
Keep it up Camille, xo from Switzerland
Thank you Mauela, that is so sweet of you to say <3 xx
Hi, I’m glad you didn’t quit. I am very much enjoying your posts. I’m just getting started on my nomadic life but I already know that what brings me joy must not become another thing on my to do list. I completely relate to your story. Thanks for the inspiration.
Thank you Elaine. Excited to hear more about your nomadic life and to support you along the way <3
Thank you Camille. I feel about Mexico the way you feel about Costa Rica—but I’ve not been to pura vida yet;) I may change my mind. LOL I just finished my first month of nomadic travels and went up the east coast. I felt like I was abandoning my own town so decided to write a bit about my local cities. As a Venezuelan growing up in Washington D.C., it seems the usual doesn’t inspire us but then I read stories on how awesome this city is. LOL Going to Europe and then Asia this Fall/Winter. Who knows…maybe Costa Rica in 2016;) you certainly do a good job of waking up my curiosity to go there.
I should start writing that ebook;) haha. un abrazo. Keep inspiring.
Awesome it’s really nice to hear that!! I’m planning to go Costa Rica this Winter and I’m SOOO excited to discover more of the magic there! I am really feeling drawn to Guatemala and Mexico lately 🙂
Definitely hear you on this one. I felt the same about posting an ad on my site last month that just didn’t sit with my mission well. I hate compromising because I “need the money” so really, I’d rather balance the happiness with not selling out too. I’m with you there. It’s not all about money, and we took this path so that we could have a simple life, to enjoy, be free, not to be slaves to work again! Totally sympathize and I am also trying to find the balance.
Thank you Kristin, really nice to hear that! Sometimes I really miss the days when I was just traveling, not taking photos, not writing anything, etc, but at the same time, I don’t want to go back to that. I do love this blog, and like you, I need to find a balance. I’ve started setting rules for myself: email and social media only 2x per day, which has helped a lot. Let me know anything I can do to help you find greater balance. Big hugs!
You are so honest and have a beautiful way with words Camille. Keep following your path dear. You have my support and encouragement!
Sincerely,
Francesca
Aw thank you so much love, I really appreciate your sweet words <3
Stick to what we love and not the money yes?! Hope to live in the joy today as that’s all we have!
Indeed, and choosing happiness and joy is always within our power in any given moment <3
I haven’t yet felt the pang of not wanting to continue writing in my travel blog. I love sharing my adventures with myself, my family and friends back home, and the world.
But I expect one day I will eventually get bored of it.
I love the analogy of blogging being an “art” rather than a business. We *are* artists and you can’t force inspiration like a machine in mass production.
Thanks for that. Now I feel prepared for the day I wake up like you did that day!
You’re welcome Rikka, and ya know, that day may not come! I have a history of battling with perfectionism, and being back in the states for so long, it has creeped back up on me. But I’m working through it. xx
Take time, let your photos do the talk’n sometimes and just say, ” how sick is this place” next blog in a few weeks.
Good call Robb! It’s definitely a matter of not letting the perfectionism creep in! Which I’m sure will happen naturally when I’m back down in Costa Rica, living the Pura Vida life 🙂
Welcome back.
I’ve loved your blog for a long time, but not because the luxury or the graft but because you’re real.
Don’t lose the love because of a self sustained pressure.
We’ll still be here whether you blog once a month or a hundred times – that’s why I have BlogLovin 😉 xo
Thank you so much Amy, I really appreciate it <3 🙂
Thank you for not giving up! Where else would I turn to!
<3 <3 <3
Yay, so happy you are finding a balance! Just sent a link for your resources to my new friend, Leah. I think your words are just what she needs right now. And yes, this Seattle summer has been amazing. I’m even grateful for this overcast, drizzly Saturday morning. Looking forward to reading more, whenever. 🙂
Thank you Angel, I appreciate you <3
I totally feel you on the burnout, Camille. You’re way more prolific than me but back at the end of last year, I was writing 3 posts a week and running out of steam. Always eager to put something out there and get notice from prospective readers, I neglected my own sanity and finally just lost it around New Year’s. I didn’t post anything for a couple of weeks and spent that time retooling, similar to what you did during your sabbatical at home.
Thankfully, you got back on board and continue to put things out there. I’m sure that people will respond nicely to your new approach. If this story is any indication of what’s to come, then I’ll keep coming back for sure!
I love your inspirational guides and stories, and can’t wait to read more! Thanks for sharing yet another wonderful inside look at This American Girl, Camille. Take care.
Thank you Duke, that’s so kind of you, and it’s always nice to hear that others go through this too! It’s all about balance and I’m working on finding mine <3
So glad you decided to continue, but with more balance. It can be so easy to equate success (lots of shares, likes etc) with importance of your work, but even if one person took away something profound from an article then your time was well, well spent. And there will be positive energy and karma returned to you when the time is right 🙂
So true, and already the flow has shifted. Thank you always for your support beautiful <3
I love that beading was your childhood hobby and passion! I never got into it as much as you, but since I was young I’ve always loved collecting little charms and beads from different places I visited and always said one day I’ll make some beautiful jewelry out of it.
Something that I’ve always loved about your blog is that it’s not full of ads on every single page and that you write from the heart. I don’t know if I just missed those sponsored posts or just didnt realize that they were even sponsored, but either way, as a reader I never saw you as selling your blog-soul like so many others do!
Keep writing from the heart. I think it’ll only make your blog even more unique.
PS that little bit you wrote under the Thomas Edison quote was just what I needed to hear in a time where I’m feeling really discouraged myself. Whenever I need an inspirational boost I always read your posts and it gives me just that <3
Aw thank you so so much for all of this! I’m really really looking forward to connecting in real life soon!! (Sitting in the airport on my way to Costa Rica as we speak!)
Ahhhh you’re almost there! Or probably there by now! I hope that being back in Costa Rica is everything you need now. Counting down the days until I get to experience it and meet you and the other girls 🙂
It is, and so much more!! I’m SO happy to be here, and I can’t wait for you guys to come!! xoxo
Such an insightful article about finding joy in what you do but I keep getting distracted by your AMAZING photography!
Aw thanks so much!!
I needed to read this today. Thank you, as always, for your wonderfully written and eye opening letters. It’s so easy to get caught up in everything, to work so damn hard, only to feel overwhelmed and burnt out. Then when things settle down, it’s debilitating on every level. It’s as if we are never quite content with what’s happening. To keep going, to keep putting in the hard work, to love, to learn, is all we can do. <3 Thanks Camille
You’re so welcome sweetie, hope you are well wherever you are xoxo
lovely, i almost quit blogging too. i have quoted you on my new post ( i quit)
Thank you so much!