Why I blog (500 posts and counting)

I write entirely to find out what I’m thinking, what I’m looking at,
 what I see and what it means. What I want and what I fear. – Joan Didion

                           

On September 21, 2010 I wrote my first blog post, and today, I’m writing my 500^th. That’s a lot of posts – and for those readers who have been with me on this four-year+ journey, that’s a lot of reading, a lot of loyalty. I thank you for it.

I began writing my blog so that our three grown, out-of-town children would feel connected to the new life that Ed and I were embarking on. After all, we were leaving the only home they remembered, downsizing our belongings, while upsizing our spirits of adventure. We were leaving behind our urban lifestyle – turning in our dress clothes for overalls, my high heels and Ed’s wingtips for muck boots, and our minivan for a pickup truck. I wanted Maggie, Jack and Mary to follow along on our adventure, embrace our new home, and feel welcomed there.

To our friends back in Louisville and around the world, I have always felt that writing my posts is a bit like writing postcards: A way to say hello and that we are alive and well.

After the first year or so I realized that writing about our new life was something I needed to do, that it helped me understand the decisions Ed and I were making, and by telling our story to someone else – to you – it helped me better understand it.

My blog is brought to you from the geeks at blogspot and occasionally I check in to see how many people are reading my site and from what country they are checking it.  Today, for example 136 people have viewed my site. Thanks to Jack, I have readers in Canada, Germany and China. Somehow, I’ve picked up readers in the United Kingdom, France, Russia and Australia. Most people find me through facebook, but some find me by search words. The most popular being mirror over the bed – which I’m pretty sure is kind of kinky.

Whether or not anyone regularly reads my blog, I will, for the time being, keep writing these posts. It has become much more for my own creative expression, my own desire, my own gift to myself – that keeps me at it. I’ve come to realize that I’m documenting a piece of my personal history – a piece that is important for me to remember. Perhaps I will suffer as my mother suffered and won’t remember how wonderful my life was in 2010 or 2014, or perhaps my lovely life will come crashing down and I’ll have a need to remind myself that my life was truly shining for far more than one brief moment.

I’m not sure how long I will continue to blog. Perhaps I’ll find some other creative outlet: I’ll take up drawing, or yoga, or making Santa Clauses from old pantyhose.  But until I do, you’ll find me here sharing a photo of a weird insect or a beautiful sunrise, recording our travels, providing a recipe to a daughter living far away, experimenting with my garden, celebrating our joys and acknowledging our sorrows, taking long walks in every season, and, in every way, enjoying our life here on Farm Dover.