Bestest Friend and I are doing a blog project. Every day we will write a blog post on a pre-determined topic chosen by a random noun generator. The theme for the twenty-first day of the month is "Decision."
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In 2004, I started this blog on a whim. My roommate had a blog and I thought it would be fun to have someplace to jot down my thoughts about life. I kept at it, blogging at least once a month ever since then. I started it before I met my husband, when I was struggling with graduate school, and having some issues with housing. I've kept at it through my engagement and wedding, several moves, new pets, the death of my father, and more jobs than I can list.
For most of those years, no one read my blog, there was no engagement, and I was all alone in marveling over the extraordinary nature of my cat's tail. But I primarily thought of it as a record for myself and purposefully made the decision to spend no money on the blog, but to keep on keeping on. I blogged about my day-to-day life, my mental health, books (of course), family struggles, and my career ups and downs.
But in the last year or so, there has been this growing blogging community that has reenergized me. People are so encouraging and smart and wise and witty and they have adorable kids and dogs. On Monday afternoon, I was feeling a bit down by the world at large and stress related to my job search and my volunteer gig, but when I got the mail, I had letters and cards from Meike, Nicole, and Elisabeth. I am so happy for our little community that has so many connections. I happily added these to my holiday card display which is looking less and less sad with every passing day.
Later that afternoon, I also got this super exciting package from San! I was the winner of her giveaway for people who did NaBloPoMo and it was such a true delight to have all these lovely goodies arrive out of the blue. What a lovely thing to do! I'm so thankful to all of you in this blogging community and I wish all of you a happy surprise when you're feeling down, too!
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To see what Bestest Friend has to say about decision, go visit her at Too Legit to Quit.
It's only been a year! Interesting, I feel like everyone has known each other for a long time. Thank you for your card (and comments)! My blog has been only mine for so long, I'm hesitant to jump in - we'll see how it goes. Happy holidays!
ReplyDeleteWell, if you ever do want it to be just yours again, you can always go private! In the meantime, I bet you'll find a supportive community because people who are still blogging are generally lovely people!
DeleteYay! I've only been blogging for a little over a year, but this community has come to mean so much to me. I can't imagine life without all these lovely people following along, encouraging and sharing their own stories.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad we exchanged cards this year - I just copied down your address into my master list of Christmas card addresses so it's all ready for next year <3
Yes! I'm so excited that we'll be on each other's card lists from here on out! Yay for interwebz connections!
DeleteYay!!! I am so glad that you continue blogging. I remember months (years?) when I would read and be unable to comment, and I'm glad that I have commenting capability again. (Perhaps you are less glad, hahaha.) This blogging community is so lovely and supportive and I feel lucky to be part of it!
ReplyDeleteOh, I love the connections and when people comment! It's fun to have friends from all over and I'm glad you are able to comment, too. I follow one blog that uses Discus for comments and I can't get it to work, but this reminded me that I should really sit down and figure it out so that blogger doesn't feel like she's all alone in the world.
DeleteOh I am so glad the card arrived before Christmas!! Yay! I love our community and I would be so sad if you discontinued the blog. I love the glimpse into your life and it's always so lovely to see a new post from you pop up.
ReplyDeleteI love our community, too! I'm so happy to be a part of it.
DeleteBlogging 4 Life! Your blog is old enough to vote and not many people can say that!
ReplyDeleteI've written consistently on my blog since 2018 but I feel like somewhere around 2019-2020 I was following almost no blogs because everyone was trying to do SEO and sponsored posts which made their blogs hella boring so I stopped following. Then I very slowly made my way over to the genre that I call "real people blogs". I think I found you from a comment that you left on someone else's blog, which is how I've found most of the gang.
I think the secret sauce that our tribe has is that we would all still write our blogs even if no one read them. The fact that we're all "pen pals" as Nicole said the other day is a very sweet icing on the cake.
I have never had a big blogroll, but almost always a handful of readers. The readership refreshes itself time and again, and I can scarcely remember some of the early responders. I am glad to keep the group smallish because responding to others does take some time and effort.
ReplyDeleteYes, I completely agree. If there were 100s of blogs in my reader, I definitely wouldn't be able to have the ability to respond regularly.
DeleteOooh! What a nice package from San! I felt like that when I got my secret santa mug present (which you should definitely do next year, picking the "no mug" option!). I also sent you a card... I hope it arrives before Christmas.
ReplyDeleteYes, maybe next year I'll get in on the Secret Santa exchange. Everyone picked such thoughtful items!
DeleteI have been blogging since 2008! There have been times when I thought maybe I should stop - especially when so many of my friends stopped blogging. Very few of the people I met in my early years of blogging are still blogging. But I've felt more invigorated this year after meeting a new community of people - including you!!
ReplyDeleteYes, I guess people come in and out of bloggy lives. I know I have some old skool readers from the early days (HI DEBORAH), but it's so lovely to meet all the new people. Blogging isn't dead, as San says!
DeleteI love this! I have been blogging since 2009, and in the early years, there were so many personal blogs to read! I formed so many great connections, but most of them stopped blogging and now there are NEW-TO-ME blogs that I get to read and connect with. I really love that we're all in such different stages of life, too, and that's fun.
ReplyDeleteThe blogging community is a wonderful place for all of us; different backgrounds, thoughts, etc...but all are so kind. (at least my little corner) I hope my card arrived to you as well; yours made my day!
ReplyDeleteYou may not believe me... but oh, I value this community so much. I'm so glad you're going to keep on keepin' on. :)
ReplyDelete