Two years ago today, for no particular reason, I started blogging. (Well, I might have done it because my sister had started a cool blog about her travels and it looked fun… but it was a total whim.) In all honesty, I barely knew what a blog was. Case in point: that inaugural entry says November 3rd, but it was the 2nd. I didn’t know how to fix my settings for my time zone. See? TOTAL ROOKIE.
At the time, I was on maternity leave with E, who was only five months old, not even eating solid foods. Such a baby, so little… Sigh. I wasn’t bored – I was completely infatuated with my son – but as soon as I started writing, I realized I had been needing exactly that. I had been neglecting my journal for years, but also neglecting to replace that creative outlet. Suddenly my brain was going, “COOL! Let’s do another one!!”
At the time, I didn’t know if anyone would ever read my blog, and I didn’t feel the need to write about anything in particular. The idea of National Blog Posting Month seemed like a piece of cake – just write something every day? Why, I’d love to. Of course, my posts were shorter back then. (How did I get so verbose??)
Now, although I’m still barely scratching the surface of the phenomenon that is THE BLOGGIVERSE, this li’l website has become indispensable to me. It makes me look at life more carefully, appreciate things more deliberately, and think more analytically. It assures that I make something on a regular basis, even if it’s mostly inconsequential. (At least it feels more consequential than, say, dinner, which disappears.)
I have been excited to discover how energizing and habit-forming blogging is. Now, I can’t stop. My ideas-to-available-time ratio is frustrating, but it makes me wish I could just write all day, every day… and I can’t imagine having nothing to write about. Maybe this month, if I succeed in posting every day, I will get through some of my huge backlog of “stuff I want to write about”.
[Actually, today I was planning to celebrate this 2nd anniversary by publishing, for your viewing pleasure, for the first time, my very first work of fiction. But after last night, I realized I need to pace myself. That's why you're getting a relatively mini-size post today. You'll have to stay tuned for Dilovely's First Book.]
And then there’s you. You are the reason I do this. Not because I think you would go into chattering fits of withdrawal if you didn’t get your Dilovely fix every day – hahaha. Not that you need me – just the opposite. Because you’re there, I have a reason – beyond myself - to write. If it were just for me, I probably would skip it way too often - even though I know it’s good for me. (I’m certain many of you can relate to this tendency.) You’re holding me accountable, in the most simple, supportive way. You keep me from going into withdrawal.
And of course, this summer, you were the listeners… without whom I would have been lost.
Thank you, thank you, and more thank you.
***
Related Posts:
Rainy Day endpapers.
And Title Page. It seems I was a very thorough little kid. Continued…
