Remembering...

I remember way back when I discovered blogging. I was reading a piece on the MSNBC newsite and the writer mentioned the new phenomenom that that was sweeping the web. It seems he said, everybody is trying out blogging. I followed a few links and found myself instantly transported into the fourth dimension. The world of the unreal, becoming real. I read into the wee hours of the morning. There were blogs about everything. Sex, drugs, and rock & roll. Best of all there were blogs about politics! I had found my drug of choice. I had to have me some of this.
As I went about setting up my very own blog, I was like a kid learning to ride a bicycle. I could bearly contain my excitement. It took hours for me to come up with just the right name. I was such a novice, I had no idea what a template was, and while I did know what HTML was, I had no knowledge of how to use it. Just using Bloggers plain old offerings was a task for me. But once I got myself set up, I was in blog-heaven. I could write! I could say whatever I wanted. I could talk to the world. Of course it didn't hit me at first that NOBODY was listening. I didn't care. My first blog was all political. I had so much to say. I was able to finally purge all the passion and anger I had been keeping bottled up.
The more personal blogs didn't appeal to me at first. The few I'd read were written by people whining and going on and on about their miserable lives, jobs, boyfriends, girlfriends, school, ect. One of the first personal blogs I read was by this person Anne. She lived in, I think Baltimore. She hated her job, she hated the stupid people who came into the store where she worked. She hated her bosses and her co-workers. How boring is that? I had my own troubles, I wasn't interested in reading about someone else's.
Then one night I came across this outragously funny blog by some crazy lady from Arkansas. What's Up Down South was the funniest thing I'd read. Through the links on her blog I discovered other personal blogs that were funny, interesting and inspiring. So, I decided to forgo my politics (after all no one was reading it but me anyway) and go for something a little more personal. The rest is history.
What I remember most is how much I enjoyed it. All of it. The writing, the reading. Every new blog I discovered brought something wonderful and interesting into my life. Baby had a brand new toy!
It hasn't been that way lately. I've gotten mired down in worrying about what this one or that one thinks. It's become depressing rather than inspiring.
While spending time with my family and friends today we got around to talking about blogging. I was telling them about some of the things that have been happening lately. My brother laughed and said "Damn Wanda, you do realize these are people who really don't know you and certainly aren't qualified to make any kind of judgement as to who or what you are, right?". Something just clicked for me in that moment. I remembered what it was that I loved about blogging and why I started in the first place. Not to win a popularity contest. Not to please anyone else. I blogged because I loved blogging.
The picture above says it all.
Wild horses couldn't drag me away.
I do this for ME, and I am going to keep doing what I love.
I hope everyone everywhere had a day as pleasant and happy as mine.

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ps: Tell me again how it wasn't about oil and money.