Five Years Later...and I’m still here!

blossoms on our red current bush

Yesterday I realized that today, April 17, marks five years of blogging for me...and it all started here.  Whew!  I find it amazing that I’m still around after all this time.

There have been many times when I’ve contemplated packing it in.  If you blog, you know what I mean.  There are times when it feels like I have absolutely nothing of interest to say...that I’ve said it all and how many times can I reinvent the same old, same old.  It’s kind of like having an old friend who knows all your story’s and sometimes you’re not sure what you’ve told them already and really, are they even listening any more?

But at the same time, I know I’m not the same person I was five years ago…but then, neither are you!  A few of you have been coming by since the beginning but in blogland as in life, things change, people change, and people come and  go.

 

 

The one thing that has kept me going is that when all is said and done, I write this blog for me.  I made a decision early into the game that I’d stop looking at my stats to see if ANYONE came.  Checking stats is a sure way to bring up all our feelings of insecurity and rejection!  A few years ago Typepad changed their format and made it more difficult to avoid this, so I now have to move through the stats page to get to the posting page...but I still make a point of not checking the numbers.

It may sound odd but one of the main reasons I blog is because it’s a record of me…my life...and the fact that I have lived, had these thoughts, did these things…that I existed. It’s a modern day version of the journals that women have been keeping for years.  The difference now is that these journals are interactive. 

 

 

It’s the retrospective that gives me so much satisfaction; I like to look back to see who I was five years ago (someone very insecure about being so visible) and where the photographs have documented my ever so tentative steps on my creative journey...through the various stages of photography, digital art and more recently, mixed media and painting.

I’m in the process of taking all of these posts (666 of them now, from both my first blog... Thru My Lens Lightly and this, my current blog, Inspired) as well as nearly 2000 photographs...and turning them into hard covered journals (one for each year).  I’ve completed and printed one and another is ready for printing.  Two others have been started but the editing is a slow and detailed and I can only handle short bursts of it.  I’m hoping to be caught up on all five by next year!

And of course…there are the connections. I love the connections I’ve made through blogging.  I know I don’t stop and comment often enough and yes, it’s important and takes less than a moment to say “great post”, “love the artwork” or "thanks for stopping by”.  I know how much thought goes into your postings, and how much talent and expertise goes into the creativity.  I always feel very honoured and privileged that you’re willing to open your souls and be vulnerable, both with your words and your art and I appreciate and  respect that.

 

 

So thank you all for sharing your lives, your talents, your deep thoughts, your humour, your interesting links, your darkest fears, your greatest hopes and your inspiring stories.  I always look forward to hearing what’s happening in your world…the arrival of new grandchildren, books read (or published!), trips planned, art retreats taken and love found. 

And I worry about you when you disappear for too long and feel a happy relief when I hear you’ve just been very busy.  But there are times too when I’ve found that a husband has died, a painful divorce has devastated, a feared diagnosis was given and even a cyclone had hit.  Although I’ve never met most of you, you’ve all become a dear and precious part of my life.

Thank you to each and every one of you for bringing such a rich fullness to these past five years.

Comments

[charlane]

congratulations. i don't know anymore what my true blog-anniversary is, but i'm glad you're here!

[Jane]

Such wonderful words and I love the idea of a printed book of blog entries. I've only just begun blogging and wish I could be as free with words as you. You are an inspiration.

[Patti]

Congratulations! How the time does pass! You were my first blog connection way back then and I am glad you are still blogging Kate, I do love coming here. I hope there are many more blog posts to come, there will always be so much for us to share.

[Kate I]

Patti, I'm so glad we've kept this connection too. Your paintings have been such an inspiration to me...the colours, the boldness, the innocence and joy...they've helped me learn to free myself up creatively (although I'm still working on that one!)

Jane, Thank you for your kind words and I'm so glad to have you visiting. As a digital artist and photographer, I'm fascinated by what you do with Corel Painter.

Charlane, I'm so grateful for you! Your photography is beautiful and your writing...well, you know just how to get to the heart of the matter and express yourself so well. And then there was the year of photography with Lens Us Together that you organized! I met so many creative souls through that project. Bless you!

[Ruth]

Kate, your blog is the first that I followed, and I always look forward to your next post. You have inspired me and offered encouragement with your loving heart all along the way. Sometimes, it seems your posts are written just for me. I know that I am not the same person I was 5 years ago, and I believe some changes have been inspired by what you write. Thank you, Kate. I am so happy to call you a friend and I thank you for every word you write.

[Kate I]

Ruth, thank your for your kind words, your emails when I drop into a black hole and for your sweet friendship...it's hard to believe we've never met. I feel like I've known you forever!

[Stephanie]

Congratulations Kate! It is always a pleasure and inspiration to visit you. I too think the connections made with like minded souls (and sometimes non like minded) are the most wonderful results of blogging and documenting of our own lives an important part to me.

x..x
steph

[Kerstin]

Kate, I, too, am glad you're still here! I love your images and your words always inspire. Personal blogs that tell their often intimate and 'real life' stories remain my favorites, it's where I feel most connected. And I am still so glad that you are one of the people I got to meet in person, too! Here is to the next five years :) xo

[Kate I]

Stephanie: you've been such an inspiration to my creative muse...you're really living the creative life on so many levels! I love your gallery tours with local artists and especially loved watching your studio come to life from a long ago yearning to an active and alive place of immersion into your process. Meeting you and visiting your Casa "de colores vivos" has made it all the more enjoyable.

Kerstin: Meeting you (twice!) was such a treat and I have felt closely connected with you as you gypsied your way across the continent (twice!). Your photography leaves me desperately wanting to ask you "how do you do that?"...I love it's moodiness and it's ability to transport me to another time and place. I really hope we can reconnect in person sometime (and I can pick your brains over a glass or two of "red"! lol).

[Chris]

You have an easy, wonderful way with words Kate. I'm new to your blog but love seeing your photos and reading your words as both speak to me because I can identify with much of what you write about and take photos of. Good to know I'm not alone in the world after all!