Another year passes by and the blog turns four today! It’s hard to believe, but four years seems so short when I look back at the time when I first started the talking cupboard. There were times when I felt unsure of what to do with this blog before spazzing like there’s no tomorrow, or stressing over the possibility of quitting this blog altogether. So many ups and downs but I am glad that I am still here, typing these words for the fourth year celebration of this cupboard. This post is dedicated to you, you, and YOU! Thank YOU, for making it possible for the talking cupboard to last until today!

I was almost 20 years old when I first started this blog on a whim, and to be honest, I have never thought that the cupboard would last this long. Yeah, it’s true. I was aware that I had short attention span and got bored pretty easily, thus there were many instances my projects went unfinished. I had tried lots of hobbies: knitting (didn’t even last months), writing journals (it was so cheesy to read all those mushy entries so I stopped writing them), scrap booking (got tired of having to make frequent trips to the arts supply store), and so many random things, but none of them stuck. My blogging history actually dated way back in 2009, when I first entered college, and everyone was so into blogging that I followed suit, creating a personal blog. That didn’t last long, because my life was just ordinary and too plain to be made into blog posts. Hahaha!

The personal blog went dead around 2010 (if I’m not mistaken) and I took my obsession with Jpop/Kpop to another level by creating a tumblr account. That didn’t last long too, because I thought that tumblr was mainly focusing on edited pictures and gifs…and I didn’t have a knack for those things. I think that the 30 Day Kdrama Challenge was a heaven sent thing to me, because I felt that I had to create a proper blog so that I could write about something I love: Korean dramas. I chose wordpress as my blogging platform and put the talking cupboard as the URL..and started ‘shouting’ from the haunted cupboard.

Oh, the first year was hard, because it surely wasn’t easy to keep myself motivated for blogging. I was lucky that I started the blog when I wasn’t that busy for school, or I might quit altogether at that time. Finding a blogging partner in kichul1106 was a great comfort to me, and we successfully completed our first joint recap for Wild Romance. It was a fun ride because it was the first completed recap project for the blog; plus, I failed miserably at keeping my interest (and patience!) afloat for the previous recaps due to various reasons.

The second year was the time when I started to blog more frequently and more seriously, because school at that time was quite stressful. I watched quite a lot of dramas, which gave me more things to talk about on the blog, and focused more on expressing my thoughts rather than trying to recap any show. It could be quite intimidating to make your blog known to the Kdrama blogosphere and recaps could be one of the gateways towards being a well-known blogger (like Dramabeans, Koala’s Playground, and Souls Rebel, just to name a fe)w, but recapping took lots of time and good understanding on the language. I wasn’t blessed with any of them at that time, so I was thinking of not doing recaps for the time being (after Arang‘s recapping project tanked).

That changed when Full House Take 2 aired on the cable channel SBS Plus, and there wasn’t any blog taking the show at that time. I was starting my internship at that time and had lots (LOTS!) of free time, so I tried recapping it..and finished it! Woohoo! That was quite an achievement for me, and I continued to write, write and write…until the internship ended and I had to go back to college for my final year. Although it was my third year with the cupboard, I planned to give myself a break from blogging and focus on my final year studies, because I heard that the year would be tough…

…until I started the semester and found myself with lots of free time. Oh God, if that wasn’t enough, I was in dire need of an outlet to vent out my frustration, so the dramas became my happy pills. Blogging also helped me a lot overcoming the stress, and I have found a better way of blogging compared to what I used to do before that:setting time for writing instead of sacrificing my sleep to blog (although I still do that nowadays…once in a while). Empress Ki happened, and I was so in love with that drama that I made the decision to recap it, because the subs was slow and I wanted to contribute something to the Kdrama community.

Then, something happened to me. I fell sick, and those years of school finally took a toll on me; I was distressed and suffered from gastritis. I went back and forth to clinics and hospitals, went on medications and appointments, and it was so stressful. The blog was like a place to escape from the crazy real life situation, and each time I felt like giving up on recapping Empress Ki, I thought of the time it comforted me, and the people who wished the best for me because they were happy to read those recaps, and gained strength to keep writing until the end.

The stressful period didn’t end there, but I was slowly recovering and eating well, thanks to my parents who had never failed to check on me (and nag whenever I missed the time for meals). At that moment, I kept thinking that the prayers from the people who wished the best for my health might had their effect on me, and I recovered from it. Then, I made a resolution, that was to keep this blog alive as long as I can.

Now that I think of it, the talking cupboard has been there for me through my difficult days, and reading the comments is one of the things I have to do at least once a day. I am happy that people found the things I wrote helpful or fun to read, because I feel that I have achieved what I thought when I wrote them; that those posts, recaps, or even random ramblings, would be able to help the drama fans and spread the love around for the shows I loved, like Kill Me, Heal Me. Although I tried replying to the comments at times, I would be overwhelmed and started crying myself to sleep..and then lost what I was going to say in the replies. Ahhh I only have my sensitive self to blame! >.<

Lots of things have happened to me in the course of four years and while I am not the same person I was four years ago, I am not afraid anymore of the changes. Maybe it has something to do with getting matured and being more confident? Ummmm I don’t really know ^^; If there’s something that will remain unchanged, at least for the next few years, it has to be my love for Korean dramas (and movies!) and my passion for writing. I really have to thank all of you for your kind words and support, because really, even the simple ‘thank yous’ are meaningful to me. Thank you very much, and thank you for sticking with this blog (and me!) through thick and thin.

I know that some people found this blog through the Korean culture posts I made and I feel that I have to address it here: don’t worry, I won’t stop writing about it! If a recap can take hours to be completed, a culture post will take at least one week for me to write. I like to read, read, and read on the topics I am going to write until I am confident with what I have learned before arranging the notes, and then start writing the draft. If I am lucky to find everything I am curious about, I will post it, but it can take months (and in a rare case, years) for a post to be completed. So rest assured, although I’m not publishing any post about it, I am working on it, whether reading, arranging notes, or writing the draft 🙂

Whew, that was a LONG one for a blog birthday post! I think I have to let you know how important you are to me and this blog, and your words are my strength. I consider all of you as my friends, and to have the support from the loved ones, including friends, is one of the blessings for us in this words. Thank you, you, and YOU! I hope that you’ll be happy during your stay over at the talking cupboard, as much as I’m enjoying your companion over here.

Love,

muchadoboutlove/mimi

(screencaps from the drama Hogu’s Love, starring the adorable Choi Woo-shik ❤ )