Blogging101 | But I Smile Anyway...

When I started the blog, I had no understanding of how this whole blogging malarkey worked. Suddenly I got a few, and I mean few, followers which made me feel elated! Wow! Someone wants to follow me, the only time ‘stalking’ is acceptable! And initially I would follow back out of courtesy. Then as I started looking at my reader, I noticed interesting posts which were reblogs, then I followed those, and guest posts would spur me on too!

I used the introduce yourself posts on various blogs, like OM, clicked on some blogs, and liked them so the following happened there too.

As my own follower count grew, I thought to myself “I’d like to follow other new, little known blogs. My one little follow would mean a lot to those still in single figures.” And so I did that.

If I find a blog that is similar to mine, I know I’ll enjoy the read, so they get my follow, and readership too! And I do read, I have two set times a day where I go through my reader, and faithfully check all the new posts out. First thing in the morning, and before bed. This is almost like my new book to read!

Going back to the task in hand, I have such a full reader, that I very rarely go on the search tag bar, but today I ventured on there.

So I chose the following subjects,

Culture – I love a bit of culture, anything to broaden my mind!
Bollywood – that was a given! What I wouldn’t give to be running around changing clothes every 30 seconds dancing around trees!
Family – because mine are the most important thing in my life, and I love to read about other families.
Crafts – love getting new ideas!
Humour a because who doesn’t want a laugh everyday? I know I do!

And I followed more than 5… I knew I would! There are so many great blogs out there! As I get a chance to explore further, I will post some links to them, so hopefully they might tickle others fancy!

In the meantime, what makes you follow a blog?

#Blogging 101 What’s up with my title, and why my tagline

03 Mar 2015 13 Comments

by Ritu in Thoughts Opinions & Memories Tags: Blog, Blogger, Blogging, Blogging101, Tag Line, Title

Here it is!

My blog is entitled But I Smile Anyway… because it pretty much sums me up.

I am generally known as the one who always has a smile on my face, come rain or smile, tired or not, sick or healthy. I am Little Mrs Positive!

I like to think I’m a glass half full kinda gal, who always looks in the brighter side. The grass may well be greener on the other side, but hey, my side’s pretty cool too!

The ‘But’ is there as sometimes I might not want to smile, in fact I am human, and life gets me down too, but I’ve been brought up to face things with a smile. Not necessarily accept what I don’t like, but in my experience, a smile does generally make many things better.

And it can help others too. It costs nothing, but gives so much… (Oh, and exercises my facial muscles more than a frown does too!!)

My tagline, ‘Musings and memories, words and wisdom…of a working family woman’, sums the blog up pretty much perfectly, to be honest.

It’s got my thoughts, memories, my writing, and a little bit of advice sprinkled un here and there, courtesy of Spidey’s Serene Sunday’s!

And of course, I am a working family woman, working in education and being a wife, mum, daughter, daughter-in-law, sister, sister-in-law, aunt etc it is all more than a full time jib, yet I still find time for my blog! (How, I don’t know!)

#Blogging101 The Face Behind ‘But I Smile Anyway’

02 Mar 2015 4 Comments

by Ritu in Thoughts Opinions & Memories Tags: Blogger, Blogging101, Humour, Life, writing, Zerotohero

Hi there!

My name is Ritu, and I am a working mum. So I have many jobs, I guess you could say!

At home, I am mummy, wife, daughter-in-law extrordinaire, and at work I am an educator to a bunch of beautifully crazy kids!

I love to write. I have been writing since I was a tiddler, fiction, poems, you name it, I wanted to write it. But the responsibilities of life kept on tearing me away from actually doing what I loved. After seeing a friend of mine start a blog, I thought “Well, now there’s an idea!” An invitation to log in, or create an account, and well, you can see what I clicked on!

I love a good chit chat, and when no one wants to listen, I have to shut up, but hey, on here, I can type to my hearts content, and say what I want, whether its recounting a funny story, an opinion on a topic close to my heart, or showcasing my writing when inspiration hits. My children provide much inspiration for many of my posts, as do my family. My cultural background gives me much fodder too. And it inspires me, words pour out of my mind, and onto the screen, whether it be a poem, or an informative piece.

I started blogging at the end of November 2014, and have really enjoyed my experience so far, and hope to continue to do so! I have been enjoying the interaction with all my followers, and those that I follow immensely, and I am looking forward to being able to have the same relationships with many of you too!

I never thought that in such a short space of time, I would be being read by as many as I am, but I always strive to better myself, and I would love to encourage more readers, and get some feedback on what I do write.

Happy reading everyone!