There’s a few things that led me to start this blog and I wanted to share in case it helps you decide if you should start a blog, or at least better understand this particular blog.
Sharing is… Caring?
I like sharing. I like talking about my life. I like sharing what’s going on in my life and ways I’m striving to be a better person and grow professionally. That being said, sometimes I feel there’s a cap on how many words you should post on social media when sharing about your life. Blogging is a limitless way for me to share and share and share.
As an educator and academic adviser my day job is to talk about others, not myself. Which I also love. I love the social interactions about life, journeys, goals, family, jobs, and more. When students ask me about my own experience or for recommendations I’m reaffirmed that my experiences are valid and can help people navigate their own if I just share. So to me, blogging is a more accessible way to provide my experiences, learning, and more to a wider audience for those who may not know anyone with said experience, development, learning, and more.
Socially Deprived
Since COVID-19 started I ‘ve been socially deprived. I’m used to visiting all the academic advisers throughout the day, talking to the front desk staff, and collaborating with other staff and faculty members throughout the week. While I love working from home and being with my family there’s something different about socializing with coworkers who are good friends. I’m very fortunate to have such an uplifting and positive work environment where everyone wants to help support students wherever they’re starting. That being said, without that I noticed I’m either doing all the talking or I’m only listening and not talking. I used to be a self proclaimed expert on active listening and engaging interactions. COVID has definitely thrown me off balance.
I’m hoping blogging about my entire life, rather than just my interest in one topic (like with my podcast) will help me do much needed brain dumps to de-clutter everything I want to get out, process more fully, and create action steps.
The Wonderful World of Disney Villains Podcast
I have blogging experience. I started a blog back in 2019 as part of my master’s degree final. My adviser wanted me to do something different than an academic paper, to think outside the box. I started the Wonderful World of Disney Villains blog which touched on some of the topics and research I had accumulated throughout my time in the program. At the time I had tried to keep going with the blog, even starting an Instagram handle for it, and it was a complete failure.
A few months ago I was in a place and space where I wanted to try again. I started posting on the blog, I restarted the Instagram handle (@wwofdisvillains), and I started a podcast. Funny enough, I started the podcast because I would rather talk than type. That being said, during recordings and navigating and upholding my own podcast I learned it takes a few turns to say something the way I want it to be said versus when I type it almost always comes out the way I want it to. That’s just the way I work best, the way I process my thoughts and learning best.
Giving My Child Agency
January 2021: my personal Instagram handle has both personal posts of my baby as well as professional posts about my affiliations, podcast, and collaborations with strangers. I discovered there were 70 Instagram accounts following me and I had no idea who they were. 70! They were not affiliated with any of the partners I’ve worked with or am in collaboration with, their accounts had nothing to do with what I post. That scared me. These accounts have access to my baby’s identity, name, birthday, and more. Information that could be used to steal their social security in the future. I immediately deleted those accounts and switched my account to private.
But I still wanted to put myself and what I can do out there in the world. So I made a new Instagram handle (@disvillainsscholar) where I can post about my professional skills, my personal journey, give my family agency by not sharing pictures of them and not giving out identifying information (literally my job as an academic adviser), and continue to network and build connections to grow myself and learn new things.
The Disney Villain Scholar 