I was thinking about something last night…

…and I forgot what it is.

I was laying on my couch, half asleep and half watching an episode of Homeland [thank you Amb from Words Become Superfluous, for the recent addition to my TV lineup!] and an idea came into my mind for a blog post.

Like in many cases, I get the idea from a seemingly unknown corner of my brain [I know, scary, right?] and it starts to take form with words and phrases, but most importantly, a feeling. At least that is how the creative process works for me. Some of the time.

I worked through the the concept and I liked it, felt I could get some traction when I sat down at the keyboard to put some meat on the bones.

I even had some ideas for images I might pair with the words. Like a good Cabernet and some dark chocolate.

Then something unfortunate happened.  Homeland got intense.

Then something mundane happened. I fell asleep.

As I perused a few of my favorite blogs this morning to start my day, it suddenly dawned on me. I had had a blog post idea of my own. I started to get excited to write when I realized,  I was thinking about something night and then I forgot what it is.

It’s gone. Totally gone. Well the frustrating part is not really. It’s not totally gone. If it were totally gone, I’d be in peace, and we wouldn’t be having this conversation. But, because I have a tiny remnant of memory that I had had a great idea, it’s driving me crazy that it’s there, but not really. It’s like being blindfolded to hit a pinata. You know that the rainbow colored paper-mache donkey is there, right in front of you and you strike out, here, there, over there, up there, over there , again and again. Wildly. And still, no contact.

I want the idea back as much as the kid with the bat and the blindfold wants the candy.

It could have been about getting an idea to write about. It could have been about the elusiveness of time when you are waiting for something. It could have been about purples horses.

In my fleeting contempt with my suddenly sieve-like brain, I searched for and  found a great article that outlines some strategies to capture the muse and the author writes:

I’m obsessed with the concept of creativity, especially how to capture the muse when she finally shows up to the party (usually, fashionably late).

In my case, the muse showed up when I didn’t know we were having a party. I was a rude host and didn’t invite her in, feed and water her or even give her a seat at the table. Next time I will serve fine wine and smelly cheese, with a pad of paper and a sharpened pencil!

What tricks do you use to remember your best ideas?

Now, what was I going to do next?

Really and Truly

Here in this place, we tend to say, share, what we really want to, truly need to. There is some kind of unwritten rule perhaps, that that is why we are here?  And when we let that voice speak, the one that may not get the chance in other parts of our day, or with other people, or maybe with anyone else at all, how can we be anything but inspired by the other voices chiming in on our conversations, adding fresh perspectives and warm nods of agreement and understanding.

I never expected to find myself here and when I first began I certainly did not envision such a place.  I considered rolling up the carpet a couple of times, but a little something told me to just ‘deal’ with those funny feelings that come when we step outside our comfort zone.  And then to find that there are others who are a whole lot just like you.  Hanging out too.  Like the best virtual coffee house in town.

This inspires me every day.

And I think it goes without saying that there is that little flip and flop in your belly when someone says, “hey, I notice you, I like you…”

And sometimes, it feels like a whole lot must be said, when really, what is most important is a simple, heartfelt thank you, and a wave back. So, today I wave, and say thank you to those who said, “Hey, you over there, I see you and I am listening”

Two people who inspire me with each post, each share, each find…have gone and turned me into a puddle of gratitude mess. Some days it is laughter, others head scratching – yes exactly what I was thinking -wonderment, sometimes even tears, and always admiration. I don’t quite have the words for how to express when someone who inspires you, says that maybe, on some days, you inspire them too.

So, I wave and say thanks to Mimi (Waiting for the Karma Truck) who shared the Inspiring Blog Award with me.   With each post, Mimi manages to raise up thoughts I didn’t really know were there, but are; or make me laugh in some kind of solidarity; or stop in my tracks (to re-read) so I can fully absorb the grace I find in what she writes, and always makes me feel I have a place there in her corner.  And because it is humbling to “accept” an award when I still feel like I am finding my own blog legs, it seems to take me an inordinate amount of time to figure out how to say thank you, which I say also to David (Lead.Learn.Live), for this very same award he shared a ways back at this point. Each day I visit his blog, he ceases to amaze on finds that strike a chord, make me ponder something about life, walk away with a new appreciation for words and images and somehow has managed to pick out a few finds from my old stomping grounds, making me feel right at home.

So I say with the most heartfelt thanks I can summon in words, thank you!

So, as it goes, the ‘rules’ are

The Rules:
1.) Copy and Paste the icon on your blog- will do!
2.) Thank and link back to the blogger that nominated you- Of course
3.) List 7 things  about yourself – done!
4.) List blogs that inspire you – check!

Seven things:

1. I hesitate every time I hit the publish button…
2. I ‘performed’ in the 3rd grade talent show; my friend played her guitar, and I did something that approximated singing. It’s a wonder I don’t have nightmares about that.
3. I have seen an iceberg
4. It is one of my greatest sadnesses that my son never met either of his grandmothers, and that they never got to know him.
5. My cable service/DVR crashed recently, and other than grieving the loss of approximately four hours of viewing Jon Hamm on Mad Men episodes from last season that I hadn’t had a chance to watch yet, what I missed most in the days it took to get a new one,  were the music channels.
6. I look for, and savor the moments of play in my days: joking with the barrista at Starbucks, surprising my students, teasing my son, finding moments to say something unexpected that makes someone smile or laugh.
7. I took the time and started a conversation with the woman who works at my post office recently. I know her name now, how many kids she has, that she has a cake decorating business (23yrs!) and I get a big smile every time I walk in now. It’s really not that hard.

The bloggers who continually inspire me:

In our day -to-day 3D lives, we tell those closest to us how much we care for them, over and over; it never gets old, right? And so, with abandon for the idea of not wanting to be repetitive, I am sharing blogs that, in addition to the two already mentioned, Mimi, and David, are the ones who  truly do inspire me, whether it be the insightful thoughts and diverse perspectives shared, the validating inclusion in the blogging community, or engaging in the comment conversation.  Know that I look forward to finding out what you share on  any given day, and that if we were to have the good fortune to bump into each other in a coffee house, how much I would enjoy sitting with you and just seeing where the conversation might go.

Stuff I Tell My Sister

Help Me Rhonda

Dianne Gray

Fly Away Home

Truth & Cake

Misifusa’s Blog

Words Become Superflous

Smile Scavenger

Hip Mama Media

Mercantile Muse

Mother Sugar

A Grateful Man

To each of you, thank you for sharing what you share, for your insights, your ideas, revealing bits of you along the way, trusting all of us. Please know that if  you just want to savor this, sip it like a perfect latte. Or cup of tea. Or, if you want to share, pour a cup for other bloggers who inspire you.  You get to choose!

Merry-go-Rounds and Mayonnaise

After completely unplugging for several days, I am back and attempting to catch up on what I missed here in blog-o-land while away. I read post after post this morning and a bit this afternoon and evening when I could steal a few minutes. I found my head just spinning, trying to respond  to diverse thoughts and meaningful reflections; some funny, some lighthearted, one so very generous,  and some so compelling I’d just have to stop for awhile. And think.

When I was a kid, I grew up in a town not far from a beach and boardwalk, where there was a marvelous historic merry-go-round designed by the same carver who created the famous Coney Island carousel.

It is also one of only a handful of carousels in the world still featuring a working ring dispenser. Rings were once hand loaded by “ring boys,” as the young employees were called. The process was mechanized in 1950. Steel rings are used today, with brass plated rings added on special occasions. Riders on outside horses can grab rings from a dispenser as they spin, then toss them into a large clown’s gaping mouth, rewarded by bells and flashing lights.

I can remember, vividly, the fun of trying to get an outside horse, so that as the carousel spun us around, I would be positioned to grab a  ring on each pass, and attempt to get it in the clown’s mouth. It was dizzying, but fun and I did it over and over and over, no sooner focusing again on the ring dispenser than the moment the ring left my hand. Other than the old wooden roller coaster, it’s the most vivid and sense-filled memory I have of many visits to the Boardwalk.

That’s how I felt today…up and down, laughing with one post, sighing with another, relating to something, and pondering the next; round and round.

And then I realized that my thoughts were more scattered than usual, it was a challenge to frame my reactions and responses in a comment as I spun around. And, isn’t that just sometimes the best part of this, the comments? The dialogue – the hilarity, the community, the validation – that ensues from so many posts – has been such a welcome surprise.

I thought about it and I realized that our comments, just like in our in-person conversations, are how we show that we are listening. We can’t just nod our head, or  murmur an hmm-mmm in agreement. We meet each other with words; and today, plugging back in, I didn’t feel like I could quite reach the ring, let alone land it in its target. It was in reaching though,  that it became clear that it is important to me that you know that I am listening.

It also dawned on me that  in reading what you write, I feel stretched, to be better, to reflect more deeply and that the comments can bring out the best in us, sometimes just as much as our own posts, just in different ways. Some days what you write stops me in my tracks and sometimes the words I need to convey my thoughts – or depth of feeling – elude me.  Or just take their own sweet time to arrive.

Like the merry-go-round, this also reminded me of something familiar from childhood – it brought back an old staple of growing up –  mayonnaise. Well, not really mayonnaise, but the selling point employed in their advertising jingle: bring out the best.

I grew up in California where our mayo was known as Best Foods. My husband and I moved to DC when we were first married, and I remember searching high and low for the Best Foods: I scanned the shelves over and over looking for it, sure that I spotted it, not realizing I was seeing the same label with a different name. It wasn’t until I called a friend from home in CA, who had grown up in Baltimore, and while talking about the move and settling in, I mentioned the mayonnaise and she laughed. She had gone through the same thing when she moved from Maryland to California. Best Foods. Hellmans. All the same.

So for my east coast peeps and my west coast peeps and everybody in between and everywhere else,  know that when you post, you challenge me to keep reaching for the ring and to bring out my best.

PS – If you are one who really can’t stand mayo – I’m married to one – my apologies for an analogy that makes you say ewww!

Where We Meet

It’s a funny thing, this blogging, and it gets my attention how we find each other, and connect, and how it happens in the most unexpected moments. Maybe its finding something that’s been Freshly Pressed, or reading the comments of one kindred blogger that leads you to another.  Or someone finds you and it quickly becomes a source of  mutual admiration.

At the end of the day, I realize that it’s not so important how we connect, just that we do.  And we do, and on some days, it’s something to reckon with.

What I got to thinking about though, is the place where we meet; where we intersect. I think it is safe to say that we each have our own blogging story; what brought us here in the first place, what has kept us here, what propels us to keep going.  But where we become the same is when we find like-minded cyber souls who provide this unique place of camaraderie and conversation; when we find voices that inspire and inform us; when we respond to hearts that challenge us to share more of our own. When we connect with spirits that lift us up and make us laugh, or cry,  from that place in our core where we know we are understood. We laugh because we relate; it’s the real life Seinfeld moment. It’s funny, or poignant, because what we just read is something that we just KNOW in our bones.

Sometimes, we know it so well, there are no words, at first.

But what about the part that came before?

Someone I know, well, ok, my husband, is one of those people who can walk in, in the middle of a  movie or tv show, and start watching for a while. And then suddenly when there is but, oh maybe, ten minutes left, he gets up and walks out.  This drives me  crazy; I don’t understand this at all.  I want the whole story, start to finish. I often want what comes when the story ends; what happens to those people, those characters I just invested in?  If I miss any of the dialogue I am lost, I want all the words.

So it is fitting, to me, that I wonder about where we meet.

We are all here for our own unique reasons and in our own unique way. But of those I have ‘met’, there seems to be, at the heart of all this, a resounding exclamation of gratitude, friendship, joy, comfort, laughter, a safe place for our gentle souls.  We find each other in our own way, find a voice and a story we recognize and we join the chorus, we dig a little deeper and before we know it, these people are part of our day, part of our story. Thinking about it this way, it surprises me that we are a little surprised when we do connect. I suppose we are just funny like that.

What stuck in my mind is that we connect with each other at various stages along our roads, at different points in our stories and our own discoveries; at different points in finding our own voice. We then move forward from that point on – and I have this crazy image in my head  -  that we are now each driving one of those ridiculous clown cars, each stuffed with more characters than would seemingly fit.  But, they do! My clown car has got some awesome characters and in my car, we keep the radio turned up. Way up.

We merge and keep moving forward from that point on and our stories become part of the new collective.

But I have to admit, I wonder about what happened back there, earlier on down the road. What I might have missed, the stories that I haven’t heard, the bumps in the road I missed.

If as people in the real world, and we met in person, we would probably share those stories of what came before meeting; we might talk about where we grew up, how we came to be in our careers, big loves and big break ups, stories of sneaking out and bruises to our hearts and egos, maybe about when our children were born, and when our pets came in and out of our lives and about the people who shouldn’t have, but have left us. Whether it was time or not. And the all-important little silly stories that spell out who we truly are.

So, my curiosity comes with a question, an invitation really. Just like our own stories, what we wrote earlier on doesn’t just fade away, it becomes part of what and who we are now, what we share and who we connect with. So, here you are today, cruising along the blogging highway and I say, make a U-turn and take us with you….if there is a post or blog entry that is back at exit 7 and you have new characters who just joined you at exit 63 , leave a comment with a link and share. I’m betting that I am not the only person who likes to see the whole movie.

Oh my, blogging goodness – speechless update!

So, today, I am totally speechless. Which is a bit backward for a blogger, right? Let me try to explain. If I can.

It makes the most sense if you read the post from yesterday {below}  if you haven’t already…and then pop over to visit Truth and Cake again.  What I didn’t include when I shared her amazing response to being Freshly Pressed was this small important detail she included:

As an added bonus, I’ll peruse your posts and choose three that resonate with me to feature on Truth and Cake next week. Instant fame! Instant fortune! Okay, just a lot of love and warm fuzzies. I look forward to reading your fantastic posts. Have a great weekend!

In the end, the response to her invitation was amazing and there were over a hundred posts to enjoy and experience, all of them amazing, honest, funny – and everything in between.  So, head back over to Truth and Cake today, and you will see why I am in fact speechless. And amazed. And honored. And Smiling from Ear To Ear.

Rian, you are one of a kind and we are all better because of you.  Copious amounts of gratitude to you, and hats off,  Ten Gallon Hats off to you!

 

 

Posted 7.16

Last week was a big week This week is a big week in blogland – at least from my perspective.  I feel privileged to have witnessed a remarkable occurrence, a mini movement you might say.

When someone reaches success – it’s easy to sit back, soak it all in and just revel in the attention.  What would you do if you were Freshly Pressed?

Last week, one of the bloggers I have been following the last few months, was Freshly Pressed on WordPress, for the second time.  She is completely deserving, her posts are insightful, thought provoking, and always leave me thinking and considering things in a whole new light. I feel expanded, challenged and at the same time, somehow comforted when I am done reading one of her posts. Like when you have one of those great conversations with someone and find yourself thinking about it for days after. Feeling like you just connected with someone who can meet you on a level that doesn’t happen all the time.  When I saw an email arrive with her latest post, and that it was something to do with being freshly pressed, I assumed it was going to be a post about her excitement or gratitude about the recognition.  Which would be so fitting.

And, it  was. But, it was so much more at the same time.

Rian, from Truth and Cake, turned the spotlight right around and turned it into a party for all of her readers, with a simple, but profound, invitation,

“I’m inviting you to Freshly Press yourself”

and gave us all some simple guidelines for how to do just that, right there on her blog.  Imagine a party, where everyone is talking, everyone is listening, and while the conversation never stops,  everyone feels heard, everyone feels that their voice is welcomed. She shared her motivation behind it all:

“I want all of us to succeed as bloggers.”

So simple, but in a world with so much competition, it was unexpected, fresh, new, reassuring.  She took her success and in one easy turn, created a movement among her readers. Everyone started visiting each other’s blogs, but it kind of felt like folks were stopping by for coffee or tea, right? I felt a sense of community and dare I say, something  a bit kindred?  I found new blogs with voices I like, bloggers new to me found mine and expressed that they found some resonance here. In my opinion, that is success here in this blogging space. Comments left for me over the weekend, on a post I hemmed and hawed about even posting in the first place, were ones that shared they found something they related to.  Isn’t that why we are all here?

Others shared in their comments about fears of getting it right, while others commented about learning that it’s not what everyone else thinks that matters and sharing their own reasons for blogging, and most importantly the realization of the importance of just writing for themselves.  I think most of us can relate to that!

Aren’t we all in good great company?! So, my hat is off, in admiration to Truth and Cake for sharing her success with us, for connecting voices that weren’t before, for raising the bar for all of us, and for having a vision that I happen to find refreshingly revolutionary.

But wait there is more!

{ I told you it was a big week in blogland! } Earlier in the week, another one of my favorite bloggers did something pretty awesome too. It’s remarkable really, the the connections that are formed here. Ever try explaining this to any of your non-blogging friends? It’s really hard to capture.

Paula from Stuff  I Tell My Sister celebrated a halfway point; at the six month mark of blogging she  is a well decorated blogger.  And deserves each and every accolade. She is warm, welcoming, real and supportive.  Oh, and did I mention, fun?  In the same pay it forward, share the spotlight, shine the light on others, way, she passed on the recognition to several bloggers. Amazed to find myself in the midst of some really great company, I am honored to be in the position to say thank you!.  Following the  great examples set forth by these two amazing ladies, and in the spirit of blog awards, it is my turn to shine the light on others.  I’m breaking the rules too, and not following the protocol of any one award, but instead sharing with you some blogs I think are worthy of your attention!

I am grateful to have discovered some new territory in blogland recently, there are more I know I will get to know over time, but let’s start here, shall we?

• Waiting for the Karma Truck
• Mother Sugar
• The Usual Bliss
• Makeve
• HipMama Media
• Mikes Look at Life
• The Polka Dot Palace
• Nancy Francis

I hope you will stop by each, including Truth and Cake and Stuff  I Tell My Sister  {if you don’t already}  and listen for a moment; I am sure you will find that you hear some great voices…

Borrowing from an earlier post, I am glad to have my little blogging world be ever expanded, and to each I say…

Ps…

Oh my, blogging goodness

Last week was a big week in blogland – at least from my perspective.  I feel privileged to have witnessed a remarkable occurrence, a mini movement you might say.

When someone reaches success – it’s easy to sit back, soak it all in and just revel in the attention.  What would you do if you were Freshly Pressed?

Last week, one of the bloggers I have been following the last few months, was Freshly Pressed on WordPress, for the second time.  She is completely deserving, her posts are insightful, thought provoking, and always leave me thinking and considering things in a whole new light. I feel expanded, challenged and at the same time, somehow comforted when I am done reading one of her posts. Like when you have one of those great conversations with someone and find yourself thinking about it for days after. Feeling like you just connected with someone who can meet you on a level that doesn’t happen all the time.  When I saw an email arrive with her latest post, and that it was something to do with being freshly pressed, I assumed it was going to be a post about her excitement or gratitude about the recognition.  Which would be so fitting.

And, it  was. But, it was so much more at the same time.

Rian, from Truth and Cake, turned the spotlight right around and turned it into a party for all of her readers, with a simple, but profound, invitation,

“I’m inviting you to Freshly Press yourself”

and gave us all some simple guidelines for how to do just that, right there on her blog.  Imagine a party, where everyone is talking, everyone is listening, and while the conversation never stops,  everyone feels heard, everyone feels that their voice is welcomed. She shared her motivation behind it all:

“I want all of us to succeed as bloggers.”

So simple, but in a world with so much competition, it was unexpected, fresh, new, reassuring.  She took her success and in one easy turn, created a movement among her readers. Everyone started visiting each other’s blogs, but it kind of felt like folks were stopping by for coffee or tea, right? I felt a sense of community and dare I say, something  a bit kindred?  I found new blogs with voices I like, bloggers new to me found mine and expressed that they found some resonance here. In my opinion, that is success here in this blogging space. Comments left for me over the weekend, on a post I hemmed and hawed about even posting in the first place, were ones that shared they found something they related to.  Isn’t that why we are all here?

Others shared in their comments about fears of getting it right, while others commented about learning that it’s not what everyone else thinks that matters and sharing their own reasons for blogging, and most importantly the realization of the importance of just writing for themselves.  I think most of us can relate to that!

Aren’t we all in good great company?! So, my hat is off, in admiration to Truth and Cake for sharing her success with us, for connecting voices that weren’t before, for raising the bar for all of us, and for having a vision that I happen to find refreshingly revolutionary.

But wait there is more!

{ I told you it was a big week in blogland! } Earlier in the week, another one of my favorite bloggers did something pretty awesome too. It’s remarkable really, the the connections that are formed here. Ever try explaining this to any of your non-blogging friends? It’s really hard to capture.

Paula from Stuff  I Tell My Sister celebrated a halfway point; at the six month mark of blogging she  is a well decorated blogger.  And deserves each and every accolade. She is warm, welcoming, real and supportive.  Oh, and did I mention, fun?  In the same pay it forward, share the spotlight, shine the light on others, way, she passed on the recognition to several bloggers. Amazed to find myself in the midst of some really great company, I am honored to be in the position to say thank you!.  Following the  great examples set forth by these two amazing ladies, and in the spirit of blog awards, it is my turn to shine the light on others.  I’m breaking the rules too, and not following the protocol of any one award, but instead sharing with you some blogs I think are worthy of your attention!

I am grateful to have discovered some new territory in blogland recently, there are more I know I will get to know over time, but let’s start here, shall we?

• Waiting for the Karma Truck
• Mother Sugar
• The Usual Bliss
• Makeve
• HipMama Media
• Mikes Look at Life
• The Polka Dot Palace
• Nancy Francis

I hope you will stop by each, including Truth and Cake and Stuff  I Tell My Sister  {if you don’t already}  and listen for a moment; I am sure you will find that you hear some great voices…

Borrowing from an earlier post, I am glad to have my little blogging world be ever expanded, and to each I say…

Ps…

What’s the point?

I’ve been putting this post off…not because I haven’t thought about it just about every day for the last few weeks, but because I sort of didn’t want to deal with it. If I don’t write it, it’s not real, right?

I like watching shows like HGTV’s Design Star and the FoodNetwork’s The Next FoodNetwork Star, for the entertainment value, the creativity, and the fierce competition of course. But I realized the other night, there is another reason, one with a bit more to bite into.

In both shows, the contestants are constantly challenged to have a clear point of view – what do they bring to the table to offer their potential viewers if they win the golden opportunity to have their own show?

The lightbulb went on and I realized that I face the same dilemma.  Thankfully, I don’t have producers and famous celebrity guest judges sitting three feet away constantly reminding me of this. But, I have myself. Sometimes we are harder on ourselves than anyone else could ever be.

So, what’s the point here? What am I getting at?

That’s the point. Having one. Finding one.

First, a little backstory. I started this blog soon after I opened my Etsy shop last fall.

I started my Etsy shop becuase I wanted needed a positive, creative outlet.

I needed a positive creative outlet because I needed to balance some workplace struggles and challenges that all on their own were something to reckon with, but I also found that my creative soul was taking the hit too.   This left  me with a void. There’s so much more, but that’s probably better left for another day.

So, with my Etsy shop open for biz, and all the amazing resources and advice on how to do that successfully, it suddenly came crashing upon me,

I gotta get a blog!

So, I did. Normally I think and over think these things, but in this case, I just dove in.

I have a few blogs I had started in prior years,  that are just sitting on the sidelines [ideas, ideas, ideas] so I  knew how to get started, get set up, you know, the basics. The mechanics of it all.

So, I started.

I wasn’t sure exactly what I should be doing, but I jumped in with both eyes open and a Nike-like committment to just do it. I was nervous, I was shy. I felt funny ‘putting myself out there”. But I  did it anyway.  It wasn’t long before I started realizing how much fun it could be when things I had never thought of before were suddenly thoughts I had to write down.  I started to realize there is a place for everyone.

So I kept going and well, here we sit.  I am still working on defining, clarifying, finding the point and I certainly know what I am not.  It’s a drag, because I can so easily get derailed when I cruise around blogland and see so many awesomesauce bloggers, and come up short. And then, I circle back with myself and try to remember this

Just like with anything we do, we get nowhere by comparing ourselves. I intentionally limit my ‘comparison thinking’ and instead, try to refocus my thinking on learning from all the awesomeness I see every day. When I think of stopping, I realize that what I do know for sure  is that I enjoy { and perhaps even need? } blogging because…

…it keeps me thinking

…it keeps me creative

…it keeps me connected

…it keeps me learning

…it keeps me challenged

…it keeps me working on my photography

and perhaps the most important,

…it keeps pushing me beyond my comfort zone.

And, those are all good things. Why would I question something that gives me all that?

But wait, there’s more.

I find that I view life a little differently, more clearly. The thoughts and ideas that merely passed my mind and then quickly exited as I multi-tasked my way through my days, have more velcro these days, more stick-to-it-iveness.

I find that I appreciate the small, [easily regarded as insignificant], moments so much more and remember that they are often the punctuation in our story. They are what makes the big picture make so much more sense.

And the bottom line?

I realized that I just kinda like it here. I have that feeling of having found a new friend, when I least expected it.  I try not to put too much energy into site stats; is it necessary to have numbers tell us it is ok to do something that we just like to do? I didn’t think so. I like all the hip, personal, friendly, kindred, stylish, bold , and insightful yous { I hope you all know who you are!} that I have connected with here in bloggity blog world. And what about all of the “youwhos” I haven’t even met yet?

And I realize that it works both ways; that because I have this here little blog, I have come across fresh perspectives, some great humor, provocative thoughts and insightful twists on things I see and think about every day. Y’all are contantly stretching my mind.  Having this blog leads me to bloggy pastures that are green, and rich and insightful. Sometimes just funny, and always creative and fresh.  I want all of that.

So, in short, I’ve had some days I’ve questioned it all, and wondered more than once,  what’s the point? What’s my point? Should I even be here?  The best part is, I finally realized that I don’t have to have the answer right now.  I’m going to stick around, take a few more leaps, perhaps play interior decorator around my blog house and throw a fresh coat of paint on the walls,freshen things up a bit; I’m even pondering a switch to a slightly different name…a little ways down the road. In other words I am going to

I am glad to be here, and glad you are too.

Cheers!