I can't believe it's *just* a month because it seems like much, much longer.
It all began on St. Paddy's Day, March 17th with this post.
What have I learned in my 30 days as a blogger?
1) Blogging every single dingle day is a LOT harder than it looks
2) There is a great community out there of bloggers and some wildly smart people blogging some fantastically smart, wry, witty stuff. I am humbled by what's out there.
3) I have a LOT to learn about the blogosphere, blogging and all the associated technologies. RSS feeds, vlogs and Flicker, OH MY!
4) There is such a thing as the blogger state of mind. Natalie on her kick ass blog Petroglyph Paradox nailed in perfectly in her April 14 post "Perceptions":
"Sometimes, I wonder about the lives of my blogger buddies. I wonder how someone actually lives beyond the anecdotal words of their blog. I wonder if they experience the same smelly, downtime or wake up with a story in their head or if they too, drive down the road, see something, and then say to themselves, 'I’m gonna blog about that.' "
I do this all the time. See something and then think what angle I can take to blog about it. I have a tiny notebook in my purse crammed with snippets of thoughts. Many of which have made their way to these pages.
5) I have learned that I am a chicken. Only a few folks in my life know about this blog. I know soon I need to come out of the closet, so to speak, and tell my unsupportive family that despite my Clark Kent-ish day job...in reality, I'm a writer, I have a book on Amazon and I'm a blogger....and then deal with the consequences.
Baby steps.
6) My blog is just as valuable as anyone else's blog. What I have to say matters. Even if only to me. And having the courage to put it out there actually does take courage.
7) Blogging is good therapy. Boy can I get some stuff off my chest!
8) The feeling of elation I get after completing the post for the day is as addictive (more so, actually) as any drug or drink I've ever known. That satisfied feeling is something I crave. (addiction number 2 is looking at the webtraffic statistics)
9) I've always said I work best under deadlines. Doing this every day and only missing one day which was then properly made up for and backdated has proven this to me. I thrive when I have a deadline. I do some amazing work. It's why I kick butt at National Novel Writing Month.
10) When I set my mind to something...look out. It took mere days from deciding I wanted to do this to execution. It's a fact of my personality I actually admire. Should serve me well in my continuing quest to be a writer that people actually pay to write.
So today is a day of celebration for me. I'll blow out the candle on a celebratory cupcake and go nuts.
Thanks to all readers, your webtraffic brings me joy.
