A Year in Blogging

Another year of blogging ... I meant to have some great recap in honor of the occasion - an Ode to An Anniversary, you could say, but alas, I'm not that witty.

What I am, this year, is introspective.

I've often felt like I've been releasing my posts into a vacuum. I don't have the hundreds or thousands of readers that some blogs attract (I've got maybe ... a doublehandful!). I rarely get comments, electronic or otherwise. I don't get asked to do give-aways. I don't attract companies who want whisk me off to cover events. No one links my blog posts to other sites, starting a tsunami of followers. I don't have fan groups, or fans, for that matter.

You know what? I'm okay with that.

This blog was originally just started to keep me in touch with friends and family. Over time, my blog has evolved, just like me. This past year, between regular blogging and "retroblogging" out of an old journal, I've really realized that I'm really blogging to keep a loose record of my OWN life -- to help me appreciate myself, my experiences, to work through issues, but more importantly, to leave a record behind for my nieces and nephews. As the kids get older, hopefully they can read the posts and use them as a way to get to know me better, reconnecting with their past selves and other figures from family history.

It took me a while to get to this point. You see, I'm a little dense.

My "breakthrough" was aided by the chorus of one particular song. For the last six months or so, every time I have loaded up my ipod shuffle, Jamie Cullum's Photograph gets into the mix.

EVERY.SINGLE.TIME.

It's not for the lack of variety in my itunes library. There are weeks of all kinds of music in there. I do try and randomly select each time.

Rather, I think Someone is trying to get something through my thick skull.

"When I look back on my ordinary, ordinary life,
I see so much magic, though I missed it at the time."

~Photograph by Jamie Cullum

Now, so as I don't miss out on the magic of my ordinary life, I'm going to get back to living it, instead of reflecting upon it.