Polka Spots and Freckle Dots Turns Two!

My little blog, Polka Spots and Freckle Dots is two years old today!

How on earth did that happen?

I can't believe that it's been two years since I created this blog, and sent my first post in to the virtual world. I can still remember how much my heart was racing when I published those introductory words; I was scared of putting myself out there and revealing my true self online. I'd kept Livejournal and Tumblr blogs before, but apart from the odd photo on Twitter, I'd never really posted photos of myself online where strangers could see them. It was a frightening concept.

During the six months leading up to starting this blog, when I first injured my back, I'd discovered the world of body positivity, size acceptance, and plus size fashion blogs through Tumblr. I was so inspired by these women who were unashamed and confident in their own skin, that I began to see myself in a different light. I began to accept myself for who I was a little more each day and this new found body-confidence continued to grow as I continued to read these blogs day after day.

By March 2012, I'd passed the sixth month mark of living with disc injuries, and I was bored. Six months of being house-bound will do that to you. I was constantly coming up with new ways to keep myself busy, and one night I decided I would start a blog where I could share my outfits and personal style. My outfits were playing a big part in raising my spirits, so I simply thought it would be fun to document them, and work towards accepting myself whilst beating boredom. Simple as that.

I didn't start with any expectations or aspirations; I didn't expect to gain a single reader. To be honest, I assumed I'd just end up writing sporadically for myself, as I did with my old Livejournal blogs, before eventually abandoning it.

I could never have imagined the impact that little blog would have on me and my life over those two years. My blog has been a life line for me to cling to while my life has been on hiatus and I've felt dislocated from the person I once was. It's kept me sane during those long hours spent in bed and occupied me through countless waves of insomnia. It's been there for me when I've felt isolated and alone, lost and let down, frustrated and angry, upset and fed up. More than anything, it's been an enormous distraction from the pain and provided me with a purpose day after day.

My blog is never far from my thoughts, and I spent most of my time during the past two years working on it. There is always something to be done; a post to write, photos to edit, comments and emails to reply to, products to research, improvements to be made. Thanks to blogging, I'm always busy. And I like it that way. I like to be busy. I don't want to give myself enough time to reflect on the pain or what I'm missing out on in life.

This blog has also helped to raise both my self-confidence and my body-confidence. I'd spent twenty-six years of my life hating myself, my body and my appearance, but blogging has helped me to start accepting myself. I'm still on that yellow brick road to self-acceptance, but thanks to this learning curve, I'm now further along the road than I ever thought was possible.

I've learnt that life is far too short to waste hating yourself and the skin you're in. It's funny that it took a back injury and the loss of my freedom and independence for me to realise that! I owe my injuries a lot!

While my blog hasn't become famous or gained a large following, I've gained a lovely little readership, some amazing regular readers whose support means so much to me, and I've made some wonderful blog friends. Every comment, tweet, and email of support means the world to me, and I love being part of such a fantastic community of inspiring  women.

I've learnt so much and have been blessed with some amazing opportunities.

I've published 615 posts during the last 730 days, rarely leaving more than a day or two between posts. That's a lot of content!

I've shared a countless selection of my favourite outfits, as weird, wonderful, or dull as they may be. Anybody would think I favoured a certain style...

I shared a glance at a handful of my make up looks. I'm addicted to colourful make up, and only wish I'd managed to share more of the looks I wore. I want to work on bringing you more of them.

I featured a variety of my manicures and wrote nail polish reviews. I wore a rainbow of colours, and tried my hand at a little nail art here and there. This blog has turned me in to a nail polish addict!

I've shared glances in to my wardrobe, dressing table, handbags, and collections. I've talked about my shopping hauls and reviewed clothes, accessories, cosmetics, and books. I've spent hours putting wish lists collages, and Serendipity Sunday favourites together each week. I've shared snippets of my life. I've talked about living with disc injuries, and blogged about a plethora of other topics. It's seems crazy to look back on it all and see where it has taken me!

I think my blogging style has improved a lot over two years, but I still have so much left to learn. I'm not the best writer or photographer in the world, or the best blogger, but I enjoy giving it a shot, and I'm constantly trying to do the best  I can.

Polka Spots and Freckle Dots has become more than just a blog to me; it's become a life line and a life style. And I owe it so much. I owe every one of you who reads, supports, and visits my blog so much! I can't express just how much your support means to me, but I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart, you truly fabulous people!

I honestly believe that the last two years of living with disc injuries would have been far more horrendous without this blog to throw myself in to. I don't even want to think about where I would be now; I don't think it would be a pretty picture. Thankfully, it has been there and kept me afloat during the most difficult time of my life so far, and I can't wait to see where it takes me over the next two years!

Here's to another two years of dresses, polka dots, animal motifs, novelty handbags, colourful eye make up, rainbow nail polish, product reviews, shopping hauls, wish lists, Serendipity Sundays, grainy photographs, fan girling, rants, musings, and randomness!