A little over a year ago, I posted a philosophical question on Facebook, and a possible answer that I’d found. It was a late-night meandering of my brain, and I was thinking out loud – or at least, virtually.
A little over a year ago, I received a private message via FB that changed the way I live my life. A family member took offense at my musings on my own FB page, and wrote me a scathing e-mail, basically ruining any future chance we had or have for any kind of familial relationship.
So, a little over a year ago, I started a “web journal” for my thoughts. It started out just for me, over on another blogging site. I wasn’t happy with the mechanics of their web tools, though. So, when I discovered that one of my favorite authors, Kim Harrison, uses WordPress, I flipped my blog over here.
And exactly one year ago today, I posted my first post. Basically the same thing that I’d posted to Facebook that cold November night, but expanded slightly, just because I could.
Here, I found that I could say whatever I liked, and not have to deal with hatemail. It was the wonder of not just anonymity, but of feeling like the people that were out here, in this vast place known as the “blogosphere” with me, were doing the same thing. Live and let live is, for the most part, the motto here. You do you, I’ll do me, and we’ll all get along just fine. If you liked it, post a reply, send a smiley – and if you didn’t? Well, click away, and there were a million more blogs to read that had nothing whatsoever to do with me.
Shouting into the darkness, I found that there were people out there that not only shouted back, but that actually stuck around to read more. I found people that, while they had their own things going on, were willing to help me get through what I had to say. And I was able to help them, as well, sometimes.
In this last year, I’ve laughed more, cried more, made so many new wonderful friends, and reconnected with old friends I thought possibly lost to time. I’ve been able to drag my memories up out of the darkness, and wipe the dust from them, seeing them clearer than I have in a long time, helping me to deal with some of the darker ones, and laugh or cry again at the good ones.
I can never really express the depth of what I’ve gained from this experience. It has been an amazing year, and I’m still stunned by it. I went from being giddy that 1 person had checked into my page in a week, to constant amazement at the numbers of people that stop by, on a regular basis, and have simply fit themselves into my day.
There are people now, that I’ve never met face to face, but I hate the thought of not checking in with them – every day. I read about their lives, they read about mine. We laugh and cry together. We get angry and promise to back one another up in a fight. We have mutual admiration societies, and flash mobs when one of our group goes to a new place, posts a guest post on someone’s blog, or needs people to click somewhere to help them out. We all rush in droves to click happily away, supporting each other, standing by one another.
Chosen family.
Those 2 words have popped up a lot in the last year, and will continue to be a part of my life now. There are no ties of blood, no obligation to do these things, or help one another. Nothing that binds us, but our own desire to be there for them.
And, going back to my original post on faith vs. logic? There’s no logic I can point to, no concrete evidence I can dig up, that tells me why this has worked, and done so well for me. But I have Faith that it is what was meant. I needed this, one year ago. I had no idea how it would turn out when I clicked that button telling me to “Get your own blog!”, but I needed it. And I have Faith that I did the right thing that day, 1 year ago.
I wouldn’t have missed it for anything.
Thank you WordPress, for an amazing year.
Brightest blessings~ Brea
P.S. I had to add, just as I was finishing this post, and publishing it, a friend RebelRegan popped in and dropped a gorgeous new header in my lap for the blog! The serendipity and synchronicity of this is wonderful! Thanks, my friend!
Brea's Air 