I Deleted My Old Blog & Lost All My Posts

It was my own fault.

In my first year of university, I started a blog. 1weekmary.com. Yes, the name may sound a little odd at first — allow me to explain.

I was 19 years old and at a period in my life where I would go through phases. By that, I mean I would obsess over things for a while and then get over them.

As a result of these phases, I had the idea of doing different things every week and writing about them. I called these 1 Weekers. So that’s the ‘1week’ explained. Next, Mary is my nickname. It always has been.

Put the two together and there you go: 1 Week Mary. That was me and my blog was 1weekmary.com.

Now that’s the back story explained, let’s get right into it.

I had that blog for around 3/4 years. If I remember correctly, I used to write on it regularly at the beginning, but as the years went on, I barely wrote anything.

There were a few reasons why, but to be honest, I just couldn’t be bothered anymore. I didn’t have the time and I wasn’t willing to make time. I guess I lost interest in it.

So when the time came for my site to be renewed, I didn’t renew it. My whole site was deleted. Or I should say, I deleted my entire site. Yes, on purpose.

I genuinely thought that I wouldn’t be blogging anymore, so didn’t need it. Oh, how mistaken I was.

Now, sometime later, I’m a freelance writer and I could have done with those articles. I could have published them here on Medium. I could have used them as writing samples to showcase my portfolio.

But they’re all gone. I didn’t have them saved. It’s a bit of a long story as to why, but I wrote most of them either on the actual WordPress website/app or on my notes on my iPhone.

Now, I have over 1,000 notes on my iPhone. (But that’s a story for another time.) In those notes, I can’t seem to find my finished blog posts. I may have found one complete post and a handful of poems, but that’s about it.

Okay, as I was writing the above, I had an idea. I checked my old email account to see if I’d stored any of my old posts in there. And I actually managed to find one! Just the one, but hey, it counts. It’s also one more post I can share for my writing challenge this month!

As I was saying, I lost my old posts. All those hours spent writing and taking pictures. All that time. All that content. Gone. Vanished. Never to be seen again. You know what I have to say to that?

Oh well.

I may have lost most of my posts and it may be absolutely tragic, but at least I was able to write about the experience. That’s one positive from the situation — this post you’re reading right now. In fact, this has inspired me to write more about my old blog and share some experiences.

You see that? Every cloud really does have a silver lining.

And you know what, I can remember some titles of my old posts, so it may just be a case of having to re-write them — or at least, what I remember of them. Now that’s the part I’m dreading. But oh well.

I’ll get over it.

Here’s a reminder: I’m donating my Medium earnings to charity this Ramadan. Why not come over and support? It’s all for a good cause. All you have to do is spend a few minutes reading my stories and then bam — you’ve donated.

Related (but not really): I Made $0.16 On Medium