Hitting the Big 500

I just gave myself a pat on the back because we can all use one from time to time and sometimes there’s no one else around to do it for us. This seemed like such an occasion.

For some reason hitting the big 500 feels like a big deal. When I started my blog back in 2009 I wasn’t sure what, if anything, I’d find to write about. Now look. 500 times I found something to post about and some of you kept coming back for more! As my father used to say, “You’re gluttons for punishment.” It took a long time before I understood the meaning of that expression. But truthfully, you’re awesome and I can’t begin to tell express how much your dedication means to me.

A lot has changed for me in the past four years since I began this blog. Some of it wonderful, some of it not so wonderful. But through the ups and downs I continued to post. Sometimes I hit “publish” with a sense of excitement, other times with a sense of trepidation. But hit it I did. I’m determined that way. If I wasn’t I’d never have found a publisher for my books plus a lot of other things I never imagined I’d be doing at this point in my life … Blogging being one of them!

I nearly quit blogging on a few occasions, (bet you didn’t know that!) feeling that it was a pointless gesture, that no one actually cared enough to read and the faithful ones who might weren’t into reading blogs. While WordPress lets us know how many hits we get with each post it’s easy to feel as though our words are not having the desired effect since we can’t see any of our readers. That’s why the comment section is such a wonderful and appreciated thing. It lets us know that someone is out there, watching and reading, maybe even caring just a smidge if we’re lucky.

The comment section is always open on my blog, and I don’t have to tell other bloggers how nice it is to read what others have to say about something we’ve written. Most people won’t bother to comment. They remain anonymous, invisible, silently reading. It’s okay. We understand. It still means you’re taking the time to read. Time is precious. While comments are not required, or expected, they’re always appreciated. No one writes a blog post expecting others to tell them how wonderful it is. Most of us just hope we that our words will strike a cord, perhaps make someone stop and consider an idea they might not have otherwise considered or else make them think in shades of grey instead of only black and white.

So in honour of my 500th post I want to thank all of you for dropping in to visit from time to time. It’s wonderful to have others to share the highs and lows with. Five years and I’m still hanging in there thanks to all of you. And who knows, maybe some of you “invisible” readers will one day get up the courage to leave behind a comment to let me know you’re there. 🙂

Here’s to the next 500.

Posted by Laura Best on July 22, 2014

https://lauraabest.wordpress.com/2014/07/22/hitting-the-big-500/