A Blog Born on a Sunny Day
It's a bit unreal, thinking back to 2015. As a mother of three children and a housewife, unemployed at the time, I was nervous and unhappy. One day at the beach, my brother told me, "What do you think of blogging?" And that's how it started.
Back home, sitting with a steaming mug of coffee and an ancient laptop that was louder than city buses, I felt a timid thrill. My only readers were a few patient friends and the occasional stranger I suspected was my friend with a fake account.
Tripping Through WordPress
I was no digital prodigy. More like a keyboard wanderer, tripping through the backdoors of WordPress and clutching at the straws of what a blog post "should" look like. I wrote about Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, what to do and don't, bus lines for my friend's startup, morning reflections and fumbled captions that only once in a blue moon got picked up in search results. The most frightening part? SEO. My best attempt to understand it involved more confusion than my high school math exam.
"You're Too Old" (And Other Digital Myths)
Fast-forward to today: I'm fifty, with greyer hair, but a curiosity that feels even more vibrant. Some say you can't teach an old dog new tricks. Let's be frank: digital dogs like me just need strong enough Wi-Fi.
Rediscovering Purpose
I realised: websites, like life, are just drafts. You can always redesign, rewrite, and refresh. My years of family management gave me surprising skills for web design: patience, empathy, and harmony in chaos.
Blogging: More Than a Hobby
Blogging was never a shortcut to "influencer" status. It was a lifeline where I tested ideas, shared travel tips, nonsense, and reflections. Each real connection – a comment, a question, a thank you – was a small digital victory.
The Messy Joy of Web Design
Starting web design in your fifties is a creative rollercoaster. Some nights brought disasters: colours that clashed, plugins that broke. But each failure was followed by the stubborn joy of making it better than before.
Five (Hard-Earned) Rules That Guide My Digital Life
Be Proud of Your Start
Every expert was once a beginner. My first posts make me cringe, but also show how far I've come.
Laugh Loudly and Often
Mistakes are easier to bear (and funnier) if you can laugh at them.
Mix Life and HTML
My kids' jokes, my brother's nudges, awkward attempts – all belong in my toolbox.
Redesign as Needed
It's never too late to tweak or start over. Progress matters more than perfection.
Share with Others
Teaching or helping another late-bloomer – the web thrives on generosity.
The Start of Something Timeless
For me, web design is hospitality: opening a digital door and letting visitors feel at home. It's not about the number of likes or perfect metrics (though, let's be honest, a successful SEO does feel good). It's about building a corner of the internet with your own hands, your humour, your grit, one page, one story, one redesign at a time.
If you're reading this and wondering if it's too late to learn, to share, to rebrand yourself, my answer to you is it is good to be alive again. Bring your coffee, your stories, and your willingness to get it wrong until you get it right. Because that's where the timeless part begins.