A Year!
I wasn't sure I would do a whole year of blogging!
I remember when I started on July 20, 2010, it was all a big adventure. I had no preconceived likes or dislikes. I felt like a sponge absorbing everything. I could count about 6 people who might be interested enough to read what I wrote (and they would do it as a favor, I was sure). And I was interested in blogs with hundreds of followers. The bigger the better.
I was sure that whatever I wrote would be warmly received, I would be very interesting to the world at large (I have no clue as to why I thought that - and secretly I still think this), :-) and ... well, as I said before ... it is all about me!
Doesn't that sound like the immature 5 year old who lives next door? That would be me!
In a year I have refined my preferences. I enjoy blogs that:
- Give you a peek into a person's everyday life, and not just the big events but all the little details that fill our days.
- Focus on variety rather than limited content or a single theme.
- Have less than 100 followers. There are exceptions, of course, but I like the "getting to know you" feel of the smaller blogs. I feel lost and disinclined to comment when the followers number in the 100s.
- Have pictures.
I have learned a few things too:
- Don't fall behind in your blog post reading. Holy Cow, those back log of postings build up fast.
- Don't try to follow more than 50 blogs. I am over that number now. It is difficult to keep up if I am over 50.
- Carry your camera EVERYWHERE (of course mine is now broken - but it off being fixed so in 3 weeks or so, I will carry it everywhere).
- As ideas occur for future postings, create draft posting holders with those ideas. I am telling you, once the idea drifts out of my focus, it is gone forever! *sigh*
- Write about EVERYTHING. I have done a few off the wall things: Vacuums, hair cuts, my new purse, the weather ... do it all!
And my very favorite thing I have learned in this last year is this:
- We are all more alike than different. Maybe there would be more peace in the world if everyone blogged and we all discovered this simple fact.
Of course this blog was built on the premise of "the next 20 years". Yikes! Time flies. Now I only have 19 years left!!! I have goals to achieve. I think I will check back in a week or so and see just how far along I am with them. If I have 20 years to achieve them - and if only 5% of that time has passed ... guess I don't have to feel too bad when I find I have fallen short!
Or maybe ... ( !! boing !! - a great idea was just born) ... maybe I should make one of my goals be: Don't be too worried about achieving your goals!
Yes!!!!
Totally genius!
:-)
Oh, well. Happy Anniversary to me!
12 comments:
Hey....picture balloons rising, confetti, streamers, brass bands....whoohoooo..hurray!!!!! Congratulations on one full year of blogging.. What are you doing to celebrate? A blog hop? A contest?
I don't know about you, but, since I retired I don't HAVE any goals..I just do whatever comes along and enjoy it with no stress. I've had enough of goals and evaluations to do me a lifetime.
I love your blog. Keep up the good work.
Well! Happy Anniversary (or is it Blogiversary?) to you!!
I love your blog and always look forward to a new post!
We seem to like the same type of blogs. I would add that I prefer blogs in which the owner looks as visitors as visitors and not as "my audience". I really dislike visiting a blog for the first time and commenting - and then being ignored. I think of my blog as inviting people into my home and I try to be hospitable. Obviously, others see it differently.
I can't keep my blog count under 60! I do know some people that have way over 100! It is very helpful to have an RSS feeder, since many of the blogs I read don't post every day. It saves me time checking them.
Happy Blog Anniversary.
Yes, indeed, a very happy anniversary to you!
Your ideas about blogging are very well defined. I don't think that mine are, even though I have a few years on you. You are focused and you know what you like. I, on the other hand, like it all. ALL. I'm up to my eyeballs in blogs and I have few preferences. Oh I do like the folksy, chatty ones, too. I like feeling as if I know a person.
As to the dashboard issue... If you didn't upgrade to the new editor back along, you don't have the new dashboard that was sprung on the rest of us with little warning. The trouble is that, eventually, all of us are going to have to change, whether or not we like it. That's why I'm trying to hold on with the new dashboard knowing that it's coming one way or the other. Perhaps I can serve as the guinea pig.
Happy Anniversary! LOL - now I am always surprised that anyone reads my blog. I write it more as a journal. I have really enjoyed reading your blog and getting to know you better.
Count me in on the party - Happy Anniversary !!! You're right, we're all more alike than we think, we have a love for blogging. No matter how boring our day seems, we're blogging about it. You reached a milestone today, cheers to the next one and congrats!!!
Happy Blogging Anniversary.
You are so very organized in your thoughts about blogging. I never really think about it much. Just like writing it and meeting so many people through their blogs.
I'm hooked on this blogging thing!! : )
Happy Blog-versary! I had thought that you'd been blogging much longer than a year. You are so good at it!
Happy Blogaversary! I'm so glad you discovered my blog, because then I discovered yours. ;- )
Wow, a whole year already! Happy Anniversary to you!
You better get busy on your goals, those 19 years will go by in a flash. ;) In all seriousness, it's amazing how fast the time goes.
I enjoyed reading what you've learned, great points!
Happy Anniversary Elaine! You've accomplished a lot in one year, and always manage to keep me entertained! Looking forward to your next 19 years of blogging! Julie
Well done. You've made it through your first year. :) Here's to many more. It's difficult to not fall behind on blogs-I do it often so don't feel bad. If you keep at it, you can eventually catch up!
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