It's Wednesday, and that seems as good a day as any for thinking out loud. Especially as this is my 500th post! When I hit publish today, it will be the 500th time I've pulled something together and sent it out to the world and wondered who would find it.
It all started with Shimelle's Blogging For Scrapbookers class in 2009; and many of the bloggers I met then are still blogging partners and friends today. We keep in touch and that seems like a good reason to keep on blogging.
Last night I heard the news that one of those friends, Deb, had lost her dear Mum Marti who had been living with Ovarian cancer for the last year. Everyone here is so very sorry for her loss. Through the final months Deb has been using her blog to highlight the curse that is Ovarian cancer and it has been a privilege to see Team Teal at work. Now that seems like a good reason to blog too.
At the weekend I was reading about a girl who started to blog about her school dinners and has ended up raising thousands of pounds to feed students in Africa. Another good reason to blog.
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| My photos today come from a little album which originally appeared in Scrap365 magazine May 2012 along with a piece about blogging |
And I often turn to some of the experts I have highlighted here before. Blog Guidebook, Pugly Pixel and the rest. If you know how to do something really well and you are able to share that with the world? Good reason to blog.
That's where the rest of us come in. I started blogging because I wanted to find other women who liked to make the kind of things I like to make. Turns out I found a whole lot more. It turns out that there are lots of bloggers out there who love their family and friends the same way I do; who enjoy the little things in life; and a moment to reflect; and a roof raising laugh when we can find one. There's a good reason or two to keep on blogging. What we have in common is greater than the distances between us.
It's true. Some of the most gratifying comments I get aren't about what I make at all. Instead they are the ones that start with - I know what you mean or I feel that way too. I guess we all want to feel that someone else out there gets us. That's what blogging at five hundred does for me. That's what, I'm wishing, blogging does for Deb, and her daughter Carrie,and the others out there who have their troubles this Autumn.
- Now, what does blogging do for you?
46 comments:
for me blogging and scrapbooking go hand in hand I started my blog back in 2007 just to put my layout pages in and poems I had written and little quirky things that amused me.
Then I found a community of bloggers and have had so much pleasure in reading what interests them.
So thank you Sian my dear blog friend for sharing you thoughts and ideas with the rest of us.
Oh yes, it has come to mean so much more than what I initially thought it would!
Anne Shirley says it best - kindred spirits.
I can only hope that all our words, thoughts and prayers can offer Deb a glimmer of hope and peace right now.
what Amy said.
I think its about feeling part of a community
Congratulations on 500 posts, Sian :) Right now I'm really feeling and appreciating the value of the friendships I've made through blogging xx
You've said it all so well. I never expected to find community when I started blogging, but I'm surely glad I have.
What a beautiful post Sian. Blogging for me is such a fantastic tool to share. I feel that I am connected in spirit to so many of you who like me, love crafting, who understand the little things. I have met some amazing people and as I have moved off to uni I feel all my blogging friends have been so behind me! It was a really amazing feeling. Blogging is so special isn't it? xxx
Congratulations on your 500th post :). I think Amy has summed it up and we are all thinking of Deb and Carrie today - who we wouldn't have known if it wasn't for blogging xx
love your post - what a whopper for your 500th!
would love to know the address of the 'school dinner girl'......
I started blogging in October 2008 as a way to share what I was creating, although my first ten posts included a lot about the 3 Day Breast Cancer walk, weather, and the election of Obama as President. I was lucky back then to get 1 or 2 comments on a post. Fast forward 4 years and I find I'm still sharing more than just what I create, but now I'm sharing with a tribe of women who GET me, who support me and make me feel validated. I've developed friendships all over the globe that would not have been possible without blogging. And I know I would feel lost if it were suddenly taken away from me.
that was a lovely post Sian and makes me realise that I should blog more and share more! Sometimes I think I haven't got much to say or haven't made any thing to post pictures of but actually it is a real and valuable way of keeping and touch and communicating. Through Deb sharing about her mum I shared about my dad and Deb has been a huge support to me as we have been on the same journey with parents. Blogging is more important than I realised!
Blogging does for me exactly what it does for you - the love is out there and it's great :-)
What does blogging do for me? That's easy. Besides being a great way to keep up-to-date with family and friends who live far away, it's just another way to scrapbook. I get to detail the everyday in a real and timely way. At the end of the year, I have my blog bound in to a book. Plain and simple.
Congrats on our 500th post!
Blogging for me started out as a means of keeping in touch with family and friends and then it also became a way of remembering special things that I knew I would want to scrapbook but would probably forget when I got around to it. Then I took Shimelle's class on blogging and it openeda whole new world for me - one of new friendships around the world as Amy said kindred spirits. May the comfort of Deb and Carrie's blogging friends help them through this difficult time.
Blogging for me is a way of sharing, a way of getting out of the house. for someone who has been imprisoned by herself for the last ten years it has been.............nah I need to blog about this
I'm still catching up with blogs and I knew the news was bad about Marti but I didn't know she had passed away. I home they can all get some comfort from the blogging community.
For me its about reaching out to like minded people and giving a voice to the madness in my head.
Here's hoping there aren't 500 candles to be blown out! I cant believe it's been so many posts, I'm up to 450 something now so well behind.
For me, as you know, blogging is not merely about sharing crafts but more about friendship, love and talking about mental health issues. In fact today is Mental health day. I am sooooooooooo glad I began my blog and have met so many wonderful people,
Jo xxx
Firstly, congratulations on 500 posts, wow. They are all high-quality. I was sorry to hear that news, I have heard about it through your blogs and it is a very difficult thing to go through.
Blogging felt like an odd thing to do when I first started and it was a bit of an experiment. I have come to love it though and find that it all just fits together with scrapbooking. I agree with Barbara that it is another form of memory-keeping and I love her idea of having them printed.
For example, the trip to the beach on saturday could have just happened. However I tried to take the best photos of the day that I could, then when I was reviewing them it gave me a story, an angle, for storytelling sunday. Then it inspired me to get on and make the layout, which earned some points for my lovely team on UKS, then I realised that the video I had taken of him matched the story, so that led me to finally suss out the video editor on the new operating system I am on, amidst all that learning, I learned something about my son (not that which I discussed, something else, more personal) and maybe if it wasn't for this 'hobby' none of that would have happened, and I would have been the poorer for it.
congrats on your 500th post - you are a big part of why blogging means so much to so many because you have a way of bringing people together and making us all feel valuable here. thanks, sian. and i am looking forward to your next 500!
I think Amy encapsulated it for me in her words 'kindred spirits'....and that is not what I expected to find when I started blogging.
It began as just sharing my crafting....and has become sharing so much more then that...and I have made some wonderful friends....I certainly never expected that.
And congratulations on your 500th post....the thought that over the last 4 years of blogging I must have read 1000s and 1000s of posts is a bit mind boggling!
I'll add my congrats to the list!! Blogging for me started in 2009 as a way to document day-to-day events & share my scrapping. Some of those it was intended to reach are still regular visitors & then a whole heap of new friends have been gathered along the way! I love reading peoples comments & appreciate supportive words when times get tough. I enjoy stopping by at others blogs to see what they've been up to...& guess what...wherever we are in the world our lives are remarkably similar & that never fails to amaze me!! If I've been away from blogland for a while it always feels good to get back & touch base with all those 'cyber friends' & it looks as if I may get to meet some of those friends in real life next year!! :D Sian, here's to the next 500 posts, the world would be a duller place without your input!! {{Hugs}}
Ooh, I can feel a new blog post about this now:) Much has been said already that I agree with. But mostly it's the friendships that have been created through blogging that I cherish the most. Also it pushes me to be creative in many more ways than just scrapbooking.
I first started blogging to write stories about my family so my nieces and nephews would know something about their grandparents. I also wanted them to know a bit about me and my three brothers and one sister and our lives while growing up. Then I discovered scrapbooking and included that in my blogs. In the past few years, I again discovered my love of knitting and now that is sometimes mentioned in my blog. I feel I have evolved from having a one theme blog to a many themed blog and I enjoy that diversity.
a very thoughtful post Sian. 500 posts is quite something. Sorry to hear about Deb's mum.
Blogging started out for me as a way of sharing evening crop dates - it's so much more now.... x
I agree with Jacky and Amy - I have found kindred spirits and although I have never met any of my blog friends in real life, the support I have received over the years has been overwhelming and I hope that Deb and Carrie are helped by this wonderful community of ours.
Congratulations on your 500th post - I justt love reading your blog, you have such a wonderful way of writing :-)
Thank you for your 500 posts. I have enjoyed your blog for a few years, coming upon it via DD or Shimelle. I really like your voice. I don't blog, but reading blogs has expanded my very small world to include many people and places I could never see/ meet IRL. It is a great connection for me to the world. So I truly appreciate your time in putting your blog together. BTW - you also introduced me to pinterest!
Congratulations on your 500th. I don't know how many I've posted - I'm never very good at remembering to look at such things. I started to blog to stop the 'you didn't share your story/photos with me' emails from friends. Grew and replaced those long emails, became part of my scrapping toolbox.
I love the inspiration I get from reading others - especially when I find something to join in which helps me reach a goal. Like writing down some of those stories I don't necessarily have photos for :)
I have met several blogging/email/forum friends and have enjoyed those, some have become IRL friends too. Looking forward to meeting some more next March :)
Congratulations on 500 posts Sian. I am sorry to hear that Debs mother has passed away. I agree with the others, your post is so thoughtful. Kindred spirits, sharing, learning, being inspired are all the things blogging means to me.
Congratulations on 500 posts. I saw the Scrap 365 piece and it was very apt. Sorry to hear the sad news. I have this week learnt a friend of mine has breast cancer. It is an evil part of life these days!
xx
Congrats on your 500 posts! I enjoy blogging because of the community, of the friends I have made by doing it over the years. I have stories to tell & not always the patience to scrap them, blogging covers that gap.
First of all, congratulations on 500 posts! That is a milestone. I started blogging to be a part of the online community. I've gotten that and so much more! Lovely post today.
Congrats on this 500th post, Sian, what wonderful stories you have shared with us. It seems like that class was just yesterday!At the heart of it I blog to share my world. I have loved learning about women from all over the world and forming friendships. It still amazes me that I have people I care so deeply for that I have never met.
Congrats on 500 posts Sian! I so enjoy reading your blog. You are a gifted writer and I love getting a peek into your world and more importantly your view of life. I agree that it is very exciting to find people who we share a common interest with. I have to admit that I am feeling a bit flat about blogging, as of late. Might be because the scrapping mojo seems low. What blogging has done for me is make me feel that this huge world of ours is not so huge after all. I love that I share a sisterhood with some very amazing women from many corners of our map!
As I go through my reader tonight, I feel so connected as I read through all the blogs paying homage to Marti and offering comfort to Deb. What a circle we have all become. As you mentioned, that's the best reason to blog.
Rinda
I want to add that I strive to be the artist that my blog readers think I am . . . knowing I have a blog and readers inspires and motivates me to create in ways I never would if I wasn't accountable to my readers (in a good way).
Rinda
You just made me go check my posts! 389, though I reckon it's closer to 400 as I remember having a spring clean of competition posts (you know the ones you have to post to enter comps.)
I'm trying to remember why I started blogging and I think it was a combination of things. First I used to enter SO many competitions and a lot of them you had to have a blog to enter. And secondly I vaguely remember UKScrappers having a purge of their gallery at some point and I think I thought it would be a good idea to have as a kind of back up gallery for me, to store my makes should I lose my hard drive etc. My PC was being very temperamental at the time.
I know I never ever thought it would be as big a part of my life as it is now. I've made so many good friends through it who have been there through some seriously bad times and the good ones. And you've proven that point with your mention of your friend and what she's going through. I use it heavily (in conjunction with art & craft) as a kind of form of therapy. I swear the Rocking Friday posts have had a positive influence on my outlook over the past couple of years. Last year in particular... And the inspiration that it's opened the doors to. Oh my word... it's so much more than I ever thought it would be that's for sure.
Happy 500th Sian x
Many congratulations on your 500th post, Sian - what an achievement! And today's is as bumper as all the rest. :) I think I value the connections that blogging enables in all kinds of ways ... and am hoping that Deb finds these sustaining and comforting at such a very hard and sad time.
Thank you all so much for taking the time to leave such thoughtful comments today. Reading them all has been as much of a pleasure as it always is to connect with each and every one of you. You are all most definitely very valued here and very welcome!
Your blog Sian, has a depth and character uniquely your own and reaches out in ways you may not even be aware of. Congratulations on this, your 500th post and for all your meaningful words.
Wow! 500 posts, that is really something Sian. I haven't been following you since the beginning but I enjoy visiting you a few times a week. I was so sad to read the news about Marti yesterday and although I am not part of Team Teal I wanted to post something for Deb, so chose a photo. A little light in the darkness.
I started blogging last year so that I could join in with What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday. It's lovely to be part of the blogging community and I hope to make more connections with fellow bloggers.
Well done on your 500th post which I have found very thought provoking. I'm not sure why I started blogging, I was out of work at the time and it gave me something to do I guess. I enjoyed sharing the things I'd made and as time went on I enjoyed sharing my stories and thoughts too. I love the blogging community I have found and how we all share each others ups and downs, it's a great support network and a great place to have a laugh.
Congrats on 500 posts - it goes by quicker than you think, doesn't it. The lure of blogging is that there are people out there reading and listening to us. We all like to be heard and its a joy to have another place to think out loud, and know someone else can relate to what we've written. Blogging is just another form of friendship - how great is that!
A lovely post Sian:) Some great reasons there as to why we keep on blogging. So glad to feel like I belong (in a small way) to this community. Sorry to hear about Debs Mum, hope she can feel the huge wave of sympathy from 'online'
Congrats on your 500th!!! I just reached that number not too long ago :) To me blogging is mostly about community :)
Congrats on 500 posts Sian!
I started blogging as a way to share photos of my daughter with my family, and a way to share scrapbooking pages with others that shared my hobby. My family very rarely read my blog, but that's okay, as crafty bloggers have become almost like a family now. I like how we get to know each other over time and support each other when it's needed.
Blogging has opened up doors for crafting opportunities I didn't know existed when I began (like DT's), and I'm so grateful for them. But it's the people I chat to that will always keep me blogging!
reading this today has inspired me to finally finish the post that has been sitting in my drafts folder for over a month.
congrats on 500!
This is a lovely post Sian :) I never knew blogging was going to give me what it has and that is a sense of community. I so enjoy the friendships I have made. Congrats on 500! I'm close to that number and need to start thinking about how to mark it :)
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