I Am a Celebrant - Happy Birthday to My Blog

One year ago today I got the brilliant idea to start a blog.  At first I was just intrigued with learning the technology.  I had read an article about how easy it was to set up a personal blog using Blogger.

One click led to another and before I knew it I had established "Life, As I Live It."  I conceived of it as a "private activity."  I saw it as a way to create some writing discipline in my life.  I used to journal regularly but had slacked off as time passed, telling myself I would write when the muse whispered into my ear...but my muse was silent.  Yet at night when I crawled between my sheets, I was usually filled with a sense of well-being in the knowledge that I had a good day.  I would lie there recalling the events that had contributed to this and think, I need to capture this, to remember what gave this sense of meaning to my life.  I decided that I would use my blog for this, as my private record of roles I played and events that occurred.

Sometimes the events referred to others, like family members, and I would send them the link so they could know how they figured into my life.  They loved it and encouraged me to continue and to please share it with them.  Little by little I expanded this distribution including a few friends, only those close ones who also ask to see our vacation photos!  Again, they commented favorably.

"Like seeks like" and I found myself visiting other blogs to see what various people were writing about, occasionally leaving a comment, and I began to follow some like-minded people.  Sometimes these bloggers returned the favor by stopping by to visit my blog or leaving a comment.  And before I knew it, my blog had taken on a life of its own.

My statistics for the year:
     Posts: 91
     Page views:  6422
     Comments:  372
     Followers:  29

Lessons learned:
1. It is possible to expand your world from the chair at your desk.  I have been connected to others from Northern California, Australia, Boston, Italy, Sicily, the Appalachia's, Great Britain.

2. It is possible to develop virtual friendships with people who may never shake my hand but who have touched my heart.  I am connected to them with awareness when they bury a mother, wait for a child having heart surgery, lose an adult son, await the birth of an infant.

3. It is possible to teach an old dog new tricks.  It has been enlivening to learn how to set up and contribute to a blog, to link that blog with other social network sites, to enhance photos to upload to share, to link to book sites such as Librarything.com.

4. It takes discipline to maintain the sense of a private activity and remember that the purpose of this blog is to capture my life for me.  Anything beyond that is gravy.  The ego can easily suck me into writing for my "audience" and I have to work to stay authentic to myself.

5. It is possible to get "blogger block!"  It is similar to writer's block and when it occurs I am convinced I have nothing to say.  The remedy is to start typing.

6. Every time I try something, my sense of "who I am" expands, so I should always welcome that new doorway.

7. And lastly, I was right, I do have a rich, full life that I share with others whom I treasure...I am very grateful for that and for the people who contribute to make it so!

So, Happy Birthday to you, my blog...and thank you to all of you who have encouraged me and taken the time to visit and comment.