No One Reads Blogs

 

I have been told repeatedly by People Who Know that no one reads blogs anymore.

Which kind of makes my blog an outlier, then?

I am constantly amazed at how loyal a following I have with this blog.  When I started writing it in August of 2008, it was partly a celebration of life, partly the story of how I became inextricably tangled up in the threads of this amazing craft.  (All puns definitely intended.)

I have shared my life, both successes and struggles, and found overwhelmingly that people have kept coming back and been supportive and encouraging.

One of the ways I process what is happening in my life is to write it out.  Sometimes I don't even know what I think about something, but something happens, and I write about how I feel about that thing happening.  Sometimes I surprise even myself where I end up.  

Sometimes I only write about what is happening after I have been through the worst and come through the other side.  

Sometimes I report from my bed - like when I fell and broke my ankle - and shared (some might say 'over shared') what was happening.

Many of the people who used to write blogs have given up, for whatever reason is important to them.  But I have kept going.  Why?  Because you, dear reader, keep showing up.  You read what I have written.  Sometimes you comment, sometimes you don't.  But the numbers keep growing, and I keep writing.

Until no one comes anymore, at which point I may continue just because I figure out how I feel about things when I write it out.  

I'm currently reading a small book of essays about various things, including living with chronic pain.  Given how much of my life these days is given over to coping with chronic health issues including pain, I wasn't sure I would find such essays of any particular interest.  But I am finding the first one incredibly affirming.

Sometimes it helps to know that you are not alone in your thoughts about growing old/decrepit.  Sometimes it helps to see how other people, coping with similar issues, manage to keep going.  To find value in their lives and a reason to pick oneself up and buckle on the harness of life and just...keep going.

The little book of essays was written by Luanne Armstrong and is called Going to Ground.  She has written a lot of books and I may look for more of her essays.  Always helpful to find a kindred spirit.  And thank you to the friend who shared this author and book with me.  I'm very grateful.