My 1000th Blog Post

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                                                                     My 1000th Blog Post !!!!

When I made my first blog entry on NaPoWriMo, taking the big step to commit to one posting a poem a day for 30 days, it seemed like a task I might not be able to complete.  I made the pledge to myself nonetheless, perhaps knowing my own nature and my dislike of not fulfilling obligations.  I made it, sometimes in the nick of time.  I think one posting was made at 65 seconds before midnight, thanks to a power outage and earlier obligations which kept me from posting first thing in the morning, as I usually did.

My days during that first month of daily postings went pretty much as they go now: 8:30, let the dogs out and see if the prompt was posted yet.  9:30–last possible moment to feed the dogs without Frida going into an apoplexy of barks.  By noon, my poem was usually written and posted, but sometimes the internet went out.  Sometimes workmen came.  Sometimes the electricity went off.  Other than these mitigating circumstances outside of myself, posting was always first priority.  OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAThis was my first ever picture posted on my blog, on September 12, 2012. This fountain of a Mayan woman is long deceased, having been knocked into the pool by a visiting workman, repaired and repainted, then again knocked in by either my gardener or dog–a different report according to who was speaking. This time, she was unrepairable, so parts of her reside separately in different parts of my garden.IMG_8669_2-1I didn’t post any more pictures until March, 2013.  This is one of the pictures I posted then that I used for the cover of my book, Lessons from A Grief Diary–which was initially my purpose in starting a blog, but after my initial posts and a few replies by readers and friends, my posts were few and far between until April, when I participated in my first NaPoWriMo.  After that month of posting a poem a day, I made  almost no posts again until April of 2014 when I again participated in NaPoWriMo.  It was at the end of that 30 day period that I decided to just keep going by doing the WordPress daily prompt, initially posting every day, then gradually adding photo prompts and occasional challenge prompts from viewers, up until the present day, when my record total number of posts per day reached 9 one day this past week.

I had no idea I had made that many until I read it on my stats page. I was sure they were wrong, but they weren’t. So it is official.  I am obsessed by blogging.  Not only writing them but reading them and conversing with other bloggers.  I love that I am in daily communication with interesting bloggers from India, Nigeria, Australia, the States, Canada  and other points all over the world.  Iceland. Greenland, Mongolia, Kenya and Indonesia.  Too many more to name.  I know what is going on with women’s rights in India and Journalist’s rights in Saudi Arabia.  I know that this week a Nigerian king cannot be buried because the man who has been raised from birth to accompany him to the grave (and by this euphemism, I mean to be buried alive with him, as in the style of Egyptian pharaohs) has run away!

I know that a good blogging friend’s beloved dog has passed away but I also know intimate details of the most important dolls in her life.  I know that my friend Judy King, who lives here in Mexico, had a Tiny Tears doll, as did I and I know the worries of a sixteen year old girl, a friend again looking for employment, the sadness of a twinless twin.  I have met nomads, travelers, photographers, introverts, shut-ins, journalists, and those fighting bravely for the security and safety of their transgendered friends.  It is incredible how the world has opened up for me in the nearly two years I have been seriously blogging.

A friend told me very early in my blogging life that she didn’t get it.  To her it just looked like an exercise in ego to be posting a blog each day.  I don’t think she’s ever looked at my blog.  Nor has another close friend who likes all of my books but who says she “Doesn’t do blogs!”  Other friends read and comment, knowing that even though a message isn’t sent exclusively for them and to them that it can still be personal and interesting and true.

In blogging we expand our circle–like a group telephone conversation on Skype or a support group or interest group. Blogging is the corner bar minus the drinks, the pot party where no one inhales, the slumber party not limited exclusively to girls. Very rapidly, it has become one of the most important parts of my life.  What I wake up for.  Where I go when I need advice or I’m feeling blue.

Some blogging friends have moved through my life and disappeared.  Most of them are mothers with a lot else to do, so I understand.  But others have come to take their place and I am constantly surprised by what it is that they respond to.  A recent posting with pictures of my favorite dolls of the past, posted exclusively for a friend who collects dolls, drew interest from men and from Judy King, whom I mentioned earlier–a journalist friend who wrote pages in my comments section–a wonderful story of her favorite doll that I hope she develops into a story some day.

Every day when I force myself to leave my house and go back out into the physical world, I meet people who, when they hear my name, say, “Oh yes.  I read your blog!”  People I did not know in my own small community as well as surrounding towns have become supporters, occasionally noting on Facebook or in my comments section that they are daily readers of my blog.  I’ve heard from kids I went to high school with, college friends I haven’t seen in 50 years–even one old boyfriend of my sister’s (when she was 12)  whom I had never even met when we both lived back in South Dakota.

I have reconnected with my favorite cousin’s wife and daughter, my high school principal’s ex-wife, who it seems was a friend of my older sisters in high school and who was there when those pictures of me and my friends in Johannsen’s dam were taken.  She and my sister were the ones who had driven us to the dam to swim!  And, in a remarkable coincidence, I’ve heard from Douglas Johannsen, whose uncle owned the dam!

Long story short, I’m not accepting the charge that I am writing a blog purely out of ego.  Yes, in writing it I am recording a life, but I am also making one.  And what a big big life it has turned out to be!

Thanks to all my funny, smart, loyal, dedicated, varied, weird, uncategorizable blogging friends.  I wish I could send you all a piece of cake or glass to lift.  Instead, I send you a slice of my life because you have sent to me so many slices of yours, and they were delicious!!!

And so, on to the next 1000!!!!

# (Today’s prompt is to pledge allegiance to what you believe in, so I pledge allegiance to the United World of Blogging!)

47 thoughts on “My 1000th Blog Post”

  1. lifelessons Post author

    I will never understand WordPress. As I was typing this post, it said it was my 1000th blog, but when I published it, it said it was my 997th!!! So, to accommodate this contradictory blogging universe, I’m going to let you determine what the next three blog postings will be. Some topics I have in mind are:” The Burial of St. Joseph,” (a topic requested by OKC Forgottenman),”Saints Anthony and Yolanda Straighten out my Life ” (a story inspired by my long-time helper, Yolanda.) or a topic of your choice–let me know what it is. I also still have one more quotation to write about which must be one of the three topics chosen. Just tell me what you prefer to hear next in the comments section of this post. Oh! and I also have a picto-story (pictures and words) the working title of which is “Diego and Morrie Clean House!”

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  2. Olga

    Congrats on the 1000th. I just got my 100th a little while ago. I’m still a newbie, but I also find blogging a wonderful slice of my life and it’s changed how I approach life. Keep blogging!

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  4. Scott

    What an interesting blog, this your 1000th. The reflection of what has occurred in your life exceeds my vocabulary. All I can say is thank you for allowing me to be a part of that grand scheme.

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. lifelessons Post author

      Thanks, Scott, for this comment and all the generous comments you’ve made in the past–and for your blog, which I read and enjoy every day since I first encountered it.

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            1. lifelessons Post author

              Such a dedicated follower that would be! I have a hard enough time remembering who wrote what when they have only one blog. My blog is like my purse. A little bit of everything all thown together in one big jumbled mass.

              Liked by 1 person

    1. lifelessons Post author

      I’ll join you with a rum and Coke, even though it is only 2:30 here and I haven’t yet had breakfast due to a disaster I shall tell in a forthcoming blog entitled “Diego and Morrie Clean House.”

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  9. Marilyn Armstrong

    Congratulations. I remember when I hit 1000. Then 2000. Then 3000. Now, as I approach the next big one, I’m wondering how I could possibly have posted so many times. I wish I remembered what I wrote about! I remember YOUR posts better than mine. Happy blogging!

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  12. calensariel

    Congratulations! You deserve a big prize!!! You have amazing stick-to-it-iveness! I challenged myself to stick it out for a year. That will be October 16, but blogging has become almost more about other people that about me. I love the interaction! The meeting people from all over the world, just like you. So here’s to your next 1000! May the words fly from your fingertips! {{{Judy}}}

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    1. lifelessons Post author

      Thanks, Calen. I feel the same way–so invested in people I’ve met here, even though at times their stories blend together and I confuse one for the other. There are two women who wrote incredible pieces about the recent births of their grandchildren and I’d like to get them together but I had forgotten who one was and now I’ve forgotten the other as well! I confuse people in my immediate physical life as well, so it is nothing new.

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    2. lifelessons Post author

      Meeting people when you are all doing things and reacting to them is a heady business..I love interactions over writing or art or photography. it’s like a big community spread over the entire world and how else would we ever meet?

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  13. vnktchari

    Great achievement. Congratulations! I like your posts imparting life lessons and regularly read them, even though I may not be commenting on each of them. Wish you good luck and more achievements.

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    2. lifelessons Post author

      I have really enjoyed reading a number of your blog posts, including the one on the death of your president. Embarrassed to say I had never heard of him. The western world is so tied up in its own problems that they tend to report only the negative news from other countries. I think your line “Too much happiness or too much unhappiness render us oblivious to any good or bad changes around us.” would make a wonderful prompt. Would you mind if I suggested it as such with a proper attribution to you? I’ve tried writing a poem on that subject but it is too stilted. I’ll try again if you give permission, plus share the prompt with others. It has set me to thinking….

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      1. Alka Girdhar

        Thanks for appreciating my posts! It’s so kind of you and I feel blessed. It shouldn’t be embarrassing as we’re not supposed to know everything about every nation. He being a former president, not many people would know him anyway. I had met him so felt like sharing my thoughts. I think every country, in fact, most people are tied up in their immediate problems and it’s but natural to overlook something in the process.
        Now I remember, I wrote that line “Too much happiness….changes around us” in my article ‘To love the coming and going of seasons’. If you think this phrase is good enough to be a prompt, you can suggest it and then it’s up to them. Possibly many people can relate to it. Would love to read your poem on it.

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        1. lifelessons Post author

          I have written a few versions. I have had the document on my computer all day, coming back to it again and again. Your line just struck me as so true and then took me into a consideration of why there was pain and suffering in the world–that biggest of questions. I am going to suggest it as a prompt with your permission, and I’ll quote your line, with your name, as having inspired the poem. And I’ll link to your blog. I really did like your piece, but guess I indicated that before.

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          1. Alka Girdhar

            If your poem is from the heart, it will definitely turn out to be great. Pain and suffering – that has been the biggest issue in every philosopher’s heart and mind – answers come by in detachment and acceptance . It’s so nice of you to suggest it as a prompt, only if others too see my lines from your eyes. Very heavy stuff does not appeal everyone, but this one should be ok I suppose 🙂 We’ll see how it goes.
            Thanks again.

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  16. Cee Neuner

    Judy, I really liked what you wrote. It’s not about ego for me either and I know yours isn’t either. It’s about our lives, you with words, me with photos. We share and care about our bloggers, friends and community. Congrats on your journey. 😀 May you continue to grow and have fun.

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    1. lifelessons Post author

      I just showed Yolanda all my flower pictures and especially yours today. I lust after that flower. It is so incredible. I love the fogged out green behind it. If it is your flower, can i possibly buy some seeds and have you mail them to my sister? I’m going to Phoenix for
      Xmas and they will be my present to myself. they look like individual orchids clustered into one large flower. I can’t imagine what flower it might be.

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  18. n7net

    I can’t find another place to thank you for your kind words. I’ve been trying to get a blog going for my wife. In the process I created a mess, and I’ve been more than a day trying to sort out.

    I wanted to commend you on your latest story regarding the Native Americans living in tents along the tracks. It was a great job.

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