It has been too long since I have talked to strangers. As a matter of fact I realized the other day that I have now been blogging for over two and a half years now…wow…two…and…a half…years. I suppose that means I missed my anniversary six months ago…huh?!
I can’t believe it.
During these last two and a half years amazing things have happened for me…
I was a contributor for Just Be Enough. My best friend and I shared a blog.
I’ve been to two bloggy luncheons (Girls Lunch Out).
I have shared my voice at the Kir Corner, Wednesday’s Woman and Great Expectations
I have co-written several mad crazy fun posts with Abby.
I taught my self graphic design and fell in love with the creative outlet it gave me.
I rediscovered a long lost talent and started to draw again.
I discovered within myself a woman who loves words, loves the pictures they paint and smiles at the experiences it shares.
I have been dragged in from my corner outside of the blogosphere huddled in lock down tight security fearful of sharing too much and discovered a world of in the blogosphere that is phenomenally, fantastic, beautiful, supportive and just plain amazing woman who encourage and make me feel like I am safe to try new things and put myself out there. A group of woman I now proudly call friends.
My creations are seen, my words are read (by someone other then me…), they were shared, heard and I thought….
I thought all of this was enough. I have thought that it was enough for a long time now.
Then it happened…
I was on twitter one Saturday morning and I saw it…#SITSSharefest. Huh?! I thought. There is was again and again and again. SITS huh?! Of course I had to check it out. I knew what SITS was but needed a refresher about what the sharefest was. HOLY MOMMA it was a link up on crack! 100s of bloggers came, linked up and then shared, chatted and connected. So I decided I would jump right in. So I started on twitter. On there, Bloggers were sharing their favorite posts of the week. We were reading and commenting, laughing, talking, giggling and it was a blast. As soon as the #SITSSharefest came to an end I marked my calendar (aka put it in my phone with two reminders…one for when I forget and a second when I forget the reminder) I was certain this was something I wanted to do again. Three weeks later I am still excited to connect with #SITSSharefest on Saturday. I am excited to talk with new friends and get to know new bloggers. I am excited to talk about writing, creating and blogging. I am excited to share what I know about blogging with other and exchange ideas. I am excited to connect with a new group of blogger, to join #Sharefest on Saturday mornings and to link up!
I thought my blogging life was full and complete.
What I realized is that old friends are amazing but meeting new people and connecting with others is as equally important, meaningful and enriching my blogging life.
I need to remember that often!
What a great message.
It’s so true, we get comfortable with the friends we keep (blogs we read), and instead of branching out and exploring tend to stick to our own.
I like to read a few new people a week and look at new articles.
There’s always room for more friends.
Love the wisdom in your words! I am so looking forward to the Sharefest this weekend. I don’t have to work on Saturday, so I can actually participate!
Kimberly recently posted..Memories Captured: Second Chances
I met you at that #SITSSharefest. So happy I did.
Love your quote at the end. Making new friends is a beautiful thing.
Tracie recently posted..Parental Trauma At The Dentist Office
Hey lady! I’ll have to check out the sharefest. I signed up over at SITS when I started blogging a year ago, but was overwhelmed. Not anything against SITS, of course, I just have trouble managing it all. Very impressed you set reminders. Maybe I’ll try that.
Inspiring post, and a great reminder as to why I, too, blog. Much love for you.
Kimberly Speranza (Sperk*) recently posted..Wednesday’s Woman: Works of Mommy Padawan
I do the Sharefest linkup, but I haven’t participated in the Twitter party yet. It tends to be bad timing for me. I’ll have to make an extra effort!
Happy Saturday!
another jennifer recently posted..Philanthropy Friday: Zelda’s Mission
I do love Sharefest but don’t do the Twitter party, yet as Jennifer says. Bad timing for me on a Saturday. Today I’m going to visit ten Sistahs. You are number three. Have a great day.
Sheila Skillingstead recently posted..Life and Death
Aaww, great post! As a new blogger, this inspires me to keep going. I love the community aspect, and finding other bloggers that think like me has been a lot of fun.
Lisa recently posted..Anti-Valentines: My Latest Million Dollar Idea