Every time I encounter a mini quarter-life crisis, I change the wordings on my About page.
There was one time when I chose to divulge everything – putting all personal information about my life. Another time, I chose to be seen as a professional, and tell the chronological story of the jobs I did and the ones I’m doing now. Other times I get emotional and tell the backstory of the blog and how I come to ‘be me’.
You see, the About page on this blog is where I present myself for the first time to strangers. What do I want them to know about me? Should I talk about my accomplishments first? Or my failures? Should I be too honest about my feelings? What if I’m trying to get a job and a prospective employer takes one look at the page and decided I’m not ‘professional’ enough for them?
So with each season, I keep on changing the information. My short bios change too. Here is what it looks like three years ago:
Marcella Purnama is a writer. In the midst of searching for stories to share and scrounging deadline to keep, she keeps alternating between tea and coffee to drink. After completing her Bachelor of Arts degree in the University of Melbourne, majoring in Psychology and Media and Communication, Marcella pledges herself to the world of written words.
And one year ago:
Marcella Purnama is a writer and author of Swimming with The Sharks: a fresh graduate’s take on life after graduation. Currently, she has three dreams: seeing her name on a book at a bookstore somewhere, growing old with her lover and live a good life along the way. Marcella blogs regularly at MarcellaPurnama.com.
And now:
Marcella Purnama is a twenty-something writer who couldn’t function without her morning coffee. She is currently working on a legit-length book, which will share her stories of trying to become an adult.
Noted, it’s becoming shorter every year, but the point is this: I think I’ve begun to accept the change.
Most professional bloggers say that you have to brand yourself a certain way – are you a mummy blogger, a lifestyle blogger, a food blogger or a random blogger? The latter(est) will give you scattered followers. The former(s) will enable you to define your target readership.
But I’ve never been able to put a finger on this blog. What’s this blog about? Lifestyle? Not really. Is it a personal diary? Not quite. Do I talk extensively about relationship? At one point, yes, but not anymore. If I really need to define it, I’ll simply call it Marcella’s blog: how a writer shares whatever she wants and gets both fan and hate mails.
So from writing various bios to reflect who I am, I think it’s safe to say that I will keep on changing.
Most of the time, as twenty-somethings we are so scared to make a choice because we thought we’d have to choose it over and over again. But hey, you can quit your job today and try to do business. There’s no rule that says if you hate being an entrepreneur, you can’t go back to the corporate world. You can choose to become a musician today and an accountant next year.
Of course, some decisions are for life. But for others, we make them up as we go along.
Photo by Jenny Dawning via Flickr, Creative Commons
