I Refuse to Give Up by Sakshi

My humble apologies to Sakshi who has great patience … she sent me her interview just as I moved home and went off air!  I connected with her writing, style and manner immediately.  She writes from her heart and that resounded deep within me.  Reading her interview gives me more clues … I am a cancer survivor, six years since my double mastectomy.  Plus we have a similar attitude to blogging, we write because we must.

I feel her warmth in her writing, so please check out her blog!

 

Please give a brief personal background and talk about your hobbies/interests?
A former kindergarten teacher, an entrepreneur, past life regression therapist, blogger, dreamer, fighter and someone on a quest to explore more in life. I’ve always loved painting and reading but now writing has taken over all other interests and yes I am a movie buff too, happy endings uplift my mood.

When, where and why did you start blogging?
My mom was detected with cancer in 2013 … I was devastated that time. Thankfully, it was 1st stage and she is completely cured now but that’s when I first thought of blogging and titled the blog “I refuse to give up”. I wanted to share cancer success stories to bring back hope in other patients’ life. But next 6-8 months were stressful coz of mom’s post surgical issues so the blog was forgotten up until April’18 with another tough phase when I had become a social recluse and started writing to vent out but surprisingly poetry happened and I rediscovered myself.

I am happy that the underlying theme is still intact as most of my posts end with hope and positivity.

What blogging tips or advice would you give to someone just starting?
First and foremost please learn to be a reader … develop interest in what others are writing and be kind to others.

Secondly, please … puhleeeez don’t drop comments like “please follow me back” or “please like my post”… personally even if I had thought of checking your blog … I won’t after these comments. It shows you are not interested in other people’s work. Be genuine and develop mutual admirers.

Thirdly, write about something you are passionate about and try to be original . A thing that comes from heart always reaches another heart .

Lastly, don’t obsess over stats. Focus on having a good reader base, once you grow … they will grow too. I personally don’t remember the last time I checked my stats.

What do you most enjoy about blogging and what have you learnt?
I enjoy every minute of my blogging experience…it’s therapeutic. It’s a beautiful way of connecting with like-minded people. Creativity flows here and learning is never ending.

Be a sponge and absorb all you can.

Has your blog or writing led to opportunities for you?
I don’t aspire to be a published author… so have never submitted any of my pieces … neither do I plan to. I have got a lot of appreciation and love from my fellow bloggers and that is more than enough for me.

What methods do you use to expand your readership?
None at all, I have even kept my blog “Award Free”.  Thankfully since the beginning I received a very warm welcome by my fellow bloggers…. people could connect to my writing, so likes and follows happen on their own.

I would again stress that reading and leaving behind genuine opinion (if positive) on other posts always helps. If you don’t like what they write then unfollow and move ahead but don’t be harsh … no one likes to be judged and who are we to judge anyone anyways.

 

Time management can be a challenge: how do you stay disciplined and organised?
I write anywhere between 1-3 posts everyday, keeping aside a few breaks which I couldn’t avoid, managing time for writing has never been a problem. So basically it’s all in the mind, if you love something you take time out for it. Early mornings and an hour before bedtime is usually a good time to write for me sometimes I binge write during lunch hours too.

I believe you never get time ……you have to take out time!

Which is your favourite post and why?
How do you select your favourite offspring? There is a bit of me in each of it and I can’t be biased . Good…. bad …worse they are all mine, I don’t regret anything I have written and I can’t select one favourite either.

What has been your most popular post, did you expect it to be the most popular?
The most unexpected became the most popular in terms of likes. It’s titled Love 

It was a quick scribble of hardly 3 lines and everyone seemed to connect with it. See it’s all about relate-ability… you don’t have to be a literary genius for people to like what you write. Sometimes the simplest of things leave an impact on minds.

Share something funky about yourself, or something that most don’t know?
No funky stuff ya, but what most people don’t know is that I am trained and have a Diploma in Anchoring and News reading and at one point wanted to be a cool radio jockey but never went ahead with it