I began blogging in 2006. I can't remember how I first got the idea. I was retired and had time on my hands. I discovered that people blogged and shared their lives. They posted pictures and recipes and decorating tutorials and events and thrifting and I was hooked.
I started out blogging as a journal. I wanted a place to remind me of my life. In it I put the things that interested me. If I did something I blogged about it. I wrote about happy events and sometimes I wrote about concerns. I began to take pictures and use programs to enhance them. It was just a record of my daily occurrences.
I never expected anyone to read it. I told my sisters and my friends. I wondered if it would even be interesting. It was mostly for my family out of town to see what I had been doing. Then gradually I became better at it. I learned to make different headers, put widgets on the side, do slideshows and gifs and repost. It became better looking. It grew on its on and became also an outlet for my creativity. I found blogging forced me to live in the moment, appreciate all that goes on around me and look deeper into my soul. It took on a life of its own. It became my personal outlet where I shared my personal story.
Then I got a readership. I put a widget on my blog that shows my visitors. Somehow people from all over the country and the world were reading my humble blog. It blew my mind. How did they find me and why were they reading? Did this mean that I was doing a good job blogging? We're people really interested in what I had to say? I became a little intimidated. I've never been one who likes the spotlight put on them and the idea that others were reading and judging scared me at first.
But I decided to keep on. I had done this just for me. If others liked it that made me happy. Once in awhile someone would write a comment about something I posted. Then it became real. I really had contact with that stranger reading the blog. The connection was electric. We all love a compliment and having one from someone you don't even know is such a validation. It made me feel that I was doing something right. Someone cared.
And so here I am today. I reach for my ipad before I even have my breakfast. I never know what I will be blogging about on this day. I don't plan ahead. I just let it come as it will. Somehow I get inspiration every day. And you, dear reader, show up. And I make this record of my thoughts. I blog. I am a blogger
“In a sense who you are has always been a story that you told to yourself. Now your self is a story that you tell to others.”
“My blog is a collection of answers people don’t want to hear to questions they didn’t ask.”
You have had an interesting blogging journey, Peggy! I've only been blogging about a year and a half. I had no idea what to expect ~ certainly not that there were all kinds of caring people out there! It's been fun to meet people from all over. Like you I wonder how someone finds my blog and why he or she keeps reading! I have always believed that if you scratch the surface of anyone, you will find an fascinating story ~ and that's one of the reasons I enjoy reading people's blogs. So many wonderful stories and glimpses into other perspectives. I rarely know what I will write, but I trust that if I write about what interests me in my unique voice, someone somewhere will appreciate it. Just one person doing so makes my day. Keep posting, Peggy!!!!!
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