I started this blog on June 21 of 2012 mainly because many many many people complained about my long winded status updates on my personal Facebook page. Then, one person highly recommended that I start a blog. By "highly recommended" I mean that she pretty much threatened me with death or worse, to unfriend me on Facebook, if I didn't find another outlet for my thoughts.
She mentioned blogger.com and that was all I needed.
This pretty much became a "Dear Diary" therapeutic type thing for me and it helped me express myself as I wished without having to impose upon those on Facebook whom I consider "friends." What amazed me and continues to do so is that, people actually read this! Thank you.
As I recall, I wrote every day in a row for the first 63 or so days. How I did that, I am not entirely sure but it was a lot of fun simply writing about what was on my mind. However, I gave myself some rules in that I refused to write about the things that truly anger me, depress me or are controversial in most senses of the word. I didn't start this blog to change anything or anyone and I haven't done it to convince anyone of any personal issue or to impact any one's life in anyway.
However, by setting those rules for myself, I've kind of limited myself. By avoiding anger and controversy, sadness and pain, I have the happy to write about, but I just cannot get too personal. So I opted for the happy inane thoughts and events in my life. I'm actually surprised to admit that my whole life isn't as inane as I had thought when I first started this. And in limiting myself, I found myself not having as much to write about as the year has gone on.
I liken my brain to Vesuvius (sans the death toll) in that, I was full of thoughts, I was overwhelmed by the pressure to get these thoughts out, I vented a few here and there and then suddenly I erupted into the Blogosphere upon an unsuspecting Pompeii (that'd be those of you reading). I imagine some people got stuck staring at this blog from time to time, simply trapped as if they have been turned to stone by the volcanic ash of my Vesuvian-verbiage! Yup, I made that up!!!!
As of the moment I am composing this, I have published 144 posts in 365 days of which the first 63 or 65 of them happened in the first 63 or 65 days. I also have 15 currently waiting to be published some of which have been in the "draft" phase since day one.
It dawned on me early on that people all over the world randomly read blogs on a daily basis. I am amazed that I have readers all over the planet. In the last year, the TOP TEN nations to read the blog have been:
- The United States
- Russia
- Germany
- United Kingdom
- Latvia
- France
- Canada
- Sweden
- Turkey
- India
THIS AMAZES ME!!!
I have a few friends who write blogs. Forgive me for not directing you to their blogs but I'm going link free today. Some of them use their blog as a place to practice their writing skills. Some are happy and some are dark. One friend writes a brilliant review of foods she likes to make and places she likes to eat. Another has made of a career of traveling to places and blogging about it for the places she visits. What a great career! I had no idea that any of this was going on when I started.
The thought of making money on this was very intriguing! Blogger offers a way to make money but I have to say they seem to be rather vague in their rules as to how one may generate an income and from what I understand, one doesn't make too much form them. Essentially you apply with them to allow them to place advertisements on your page. They find an audience to cater to after reviewing your site and BINGO, you make like 1 dollar a month!
I tried. The first step was to create a Facebook page to compliment and direct people to the blog. It kind of worked!
I say "kind of" because, well, whenever I post a link to my latest blog addition on the Facebook page, I do see a quick response in readers. However, by creating the Facebook page no one had a reason to follow the blog when they could just follow the page. I know that it's kind of the same thing as one relates to the other, but... well I don't know, but something about that just seems wrong. I don't know why.
Regardless, it works.
Originally I was posting the link to the blog on my personal Facebook page but I think that still managed to drive "friends" nuts. The new Facebook page for the blog turned out to be a hit and maintained readers. However, it did not appease the advertising Gods.
Upon reviewing my blog for advertising, I received a message that broke down to saying that I don't really have a particular audience....
So much for this as a fall back career!
Now, I have learned that I truly enjoy the writing and putting my thoughts to page, but, I always have to hold back. Mainly, I hold back out of respect, or perhaps, fear.... I have family whom I wish to not ostracize, but DAMN they create such fun and awkward situations.... I have friends, whom may not forgive me if I spout out our Vegas-esque escapades... I have people, or at least one person, who read this to find out what awful things I may say that they could use against me in a court of law... and then, I just don't want to turn this into a one sided bitch-session.
Seriously, there are what, like 7 billion people on this planet and at any given moment, my life has got to be at least 50 times better than maybe 6 billion of those people! Yet, daily, something is going on in my life that just might be "THE WORST THING EVER" as I often hear any dramatic experience described in the elementary school social scene!
I could write a blog solely on all of the negativity that is around but, man, have you looked out there at all the negative blogs? It ain't me! I could see where it would feel very good to write a bitchy blog, much like truly cursing someone out (who totally deserved it) or quitting a terrible job feels GREAT, for about fifteen minutes until reality sets in... But once you tap into that negativity, you just encourage it and strengthen like a muscle until, eventually, it's all you know.
Seriously, I know at least one furiously self-absorbed negative person who has grown so accustomed to being angry all the time that they've decided everyone around them is always angry all the time too and is therefore defensive towards and angry at EVERYONE! I pray they're wrong. Maybe I'm naive....
I'm getting off point.... That's my thing!
So here it is, soon to be published post #145. At the time of writing this, I've had 3987 hits on this page and hope to break 4k with today's post.
After today, I'm not sure when I'll post again. As you can see on this page (to the right) my monthly posts have seriously dwindled since I started. I think a post a week is healthy, but man, did I set my standards high when I first started.
When I first started, something would happen to me, or I'd notice something from a different perspective, and I'd think to myself "I need to write that out RIGHT NOW" and I totally would. Now when something pops in my head that I should write out, I find myself thinking "I need to write that out, RIGHT NOW!... orrrrrr, I could go over there and do something else...." and I'm distracted.
I liken this to waking up in the middle of the night because you have to go to the bathroom, but you are too tired to get up and go and so you convince yourself to just lie there and go back to sleep. It takes time, but you eventually fall back asleep and then have those awkward dreams of wetting the bed and so you finally get up about five minutes before your alarm and make a mad dash to the bathroom only to have your alarm go off while you're in there and then suddenly everyone in the house is awake because you refused to address a necessity that needed to get out in lieu of your own personal desire to sleep you selfish bastard!!!
Wait... what was I saying?
Oh yeah.... so, I have these thoughts to write down but I try to get to it later and in putting it off, I create more of a frustration when I try to get to it later....
I don't know what I'm trying to say here anymore today.
I think I'll stop here and come back around in July... or maybe August....
I suddenly feel an overwhelming urge to go to the bathroom. C-ya.
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