One Year Old Today

I hit the Publish button on my first ever blog post a year ago today.  Well, a year and about two hours ago.  Immediately afterwards, I wrote my second ever blog post, which was much more to the point (and even now, it more accurately describes my blog than anything else).  I was going to say that I still don’t have a theme, but I guess the theme is me, just what I think or feel, what’s going on in my life, a few triumphs and many, many foibles.  I’ve written about God, snakes, friends and family, cutting the grass, my hometown, and depression.  I’ve shared my journals, my poetry, and my photos, a little bit of comedy and a lot of truth.  I’ve asked some questions.  I’ve contemplated art and infinity, thankfulness and being nice.  You know what?  I feel like a lot has happened in a year.

But I still distinctly remember what it felt like, sitting there and looking at this newly created space.  The three things I remember most are that I wanted to publish more, that I had no idea what that more  would be, and that no one was seeing this but me.   I knew that my posts had been sent out into the cyber world, but I didn’t really know how – how to connect, how people would find me, if  anyone would ever find me.  But before I even got the hang of things, I had a comment from the great atomsofthought.  It came as quite a shock, to be honest.  I had no idea how he found my blog (not understanding about tags, WordPress topics pages, or any of the numerous ways you can find posts that interest you).  It was a mystery to me at the time, but a great surprise.

Then as I began reading other blogs and making comments, a neighborhood started growing around me.  It’s just like the real thing, too: there are people I know of, who don’t know me; neighbors I spend lots of time talking to over the fence; some people I just get a glimpse of as we head off to work in the mornings, and we wave to each other as our cars pass on the street.  There are block parties, and holiday decorations, and chicken soup brought to your door when you’re not feeling well.  In short, it’s a pretty good place to live.

As for the rest of it, I’ve gone through all the stages that other people have written about, from spending all of my spare time on blogging, to getting burned out and spending no time on blogging, from hounding my stats page to see if I’ve gotten one more view, to barely remembering to look at my stats once a week.  But the one consistent thing has been the community and how important you all are to me.  

I couldn’t have asked for a better first year.  Thanks everyone, for being here with me.  And especially for being here for  me.  You are, quite simply, the greatest.  I couldn’t have done it without you.  I certainly wouldn’t have, anyway.  And that is something I am  sure about.

♦