Do You Love Your Blog?

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We make a thousand choices each day. What to wear, what to eat, how much, which errand to run first, how to get there, what to say. Ever notice how one simple decision ushers you into a world of unforeseen events, some that are life-changing? In the aftermath of the accident you think, “Why did I have to turn on that street today?” March 6th last year, I brought over to WordPress the handful of posts I had started loading on Tumblr. Little did I know. I would never be the same on the Holistic Journey after putting up that first post Lessons from my 30s.

You’ve shown me so much love already, I had wanted to celebrate AHJ’s birthday in quiet. But I decided to share some thoughts on blogging.

BIRTH PAINS
I wish I could whip out posts like cowboys with their pistols. I have asked a lot of myself here. Every post is a birth. I don’t write for your respect or like but feel I must bleed to earn it. Even if it’s just a paper cut. Has to be the masochistic Korean in me. Some posts I’ve spent months preparing. I have asked through many of them why in the world I was exacting a college paper from myself. I think, squint, think some more, hush the groaning in my brain. And after handing you the gift I prepared with love, I crash. Am physically drained after clicking publish.

WHY I SUFFER
How can I not? Why would I not give you my best? You fit my holistic journey into the countless choices you make in your week. The question of why it is we do what we do as bloggers came up in a conversation with a reader. I discovered my reason was curiously one that many men would have. Impact. You know how women are supposed to derive satisfaction most from relationships and men from a sense of significance? Obviously the goals are not mutually exclusive. But isn’t the angle many men and women approach people and work from interesting? I was able to distill my purpose in blogging to the extraordinary satisfaction of making an impact, in whatever way that happens. No real surprise, actually. Like many men, I’d rather have respect than love. Yeah, you can imagine how it pleases my husband to tap my soft side (reLiEf). I have written so that my words would land somewhere and do something. Otherwise I would’ve kept to a journal. I have written also because I couldn’t stop once I started. I’ve gone about the past year more inspired than I could handle. CPU overload. The floodgates had burst.
Gold
IT’S GOLD
Many say they blog because they like to socialize. The relationships that gave me new life have been an unexpected reward for what I’ve put into the writing. The connection with my readers is so magical I’d have to call it alchemy. There are more than words in this place. There’s a couch, a box of Kleenex. It hit me recently that the couch was for me, too. It wasn’t just readers who walked away with food for thought. You have given me much to ponder, to reconsider. I have a treasury of insight and wisdom under every post to revisit when I need to. Gold. You’ve made me a rich woman. Do you love your blog? I shamelessly confess I love mine because my readers have turned it into what it is and I love my readers. Why should you like it if I didn’t myself? While having fun sharing some old posts with Opinionated Man‘s crowd, I put out The Power of Unstoppable Love for you here. And you responded. You didn’t know how good it felt to be home.

I was speaking to all my readers, which means you, in my last post on his main blog this week:

I don’t hear just the song and the band when I play an artist. I observe the inflections that say it’s Celine. I hear Josh Groban’s breath between the lines. And breath is something you don’t just hear. It’s something you feel.

I’ve noticed in the past year how up-close blogging brings you. I mean this even of posts that do not divulge personal stories. It’s the nature of writing. The voice, inflections, color of your words reveal so much of how your mind works, who you are, where your heart is. I feel the writer’s breath, his laugh, her cry. I’ve seen how high your sky is, how deep your night. When I see a reader on my Stats burrow into my archive, I almost want to cover myself. Hug my chest. He’s digging to know me better. He lifts page after page of my mind. Her understanding of the things deeply important to me will grow clearer with each post. She hears my voice. All to say, I have really enjoyed my time with you. Thanks for caring to read – and as many of you have, for doing it so faithfully.

My final song on mike, Curtain Call, I dedicate to you. It goes like this. If the curtain were to close on you in some way and the post you’re working on turns out to be your last, would you be pleased with your content and presentation? Would you be glad you got to tell your story? Did you leave us something worthwhile? Even a good laugh is a saving reminder of the joy of lightness. Make your posts meaningful or fun for yourself so that it’ll be meaningful and fun to us. Are you inspired, excited by your art or photography? Then you can hope we will be. Make the most of the time and attention on you, and the endless potential for connections from your post.

If we were each writing in our own cubicle with no way to visit one another – bring a cup of coffee – we know blogging would be a whole other experience. Pen name or no, you want to be known. Want to know you matter. So you splay your heart, asking us to feel its pulse. Make your posts matter, then. My readers don’t stop by my cubby with feedback on my posts. I’ve cleared the walls and we sink into the couch, our circle, with lots of pen and paper and the light in our eyes. While blogging has threatened to detract from the duties of living, my writing through this beautiful intimacy has been my living. My breath.

I’ve given you myself. I hope it was enough.

132 thoughts on “Do You Love Your Blog?”

  1. You pour your whole self into all you write! Thank you for sharing with us, and for making the couch so cozy 🙂 We, the readers, love you. (and respect you, weighing considering what you say, chewing on it, responding, and sometimes even changing our lives or outlooks)

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  2. you write so beautifully. i don’t even know how to best say what i feel about this post, your other posts, and about your blog as a whole. they probably sink in and settle and become something new and different, in every reader.
    i hope it is one of your objectives. because i really think you manage to do that.

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    • I’m a bit taken aback, N. What an honor. Every (golden) word I cherish.

      Thanks so much for your time with me. I can only hope you walk away with something to enrich your own journey.

      Blessings,
      Diana

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  3. Congratulations Diana. You offer us gold filled with the treasures of connecting our minds and hearts. Your dedication to craft is inspiring and calls me to be and do more in my blog. I’m grateful to be part of your community.

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    • So so sweet and generous, Brad. I know that big heart of yours has touched many. And I mean that.

      “calls me to be and do more in my blog.”
      More than praise, THIS is my greatest reward, Brad. Bc I want you all to know fulfillment in your own journey. Getting chills. Thanks for sharing that. I’m grateful for you.

      Love,
      Diana

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  6. Oh such lovely and heart felt words. This post was meant to inspire but alas I’m not a writer- I merley deliver information but I do enjoy reading your posts. The first time I read one of your posts I could feel your dedication to writing and how much you care about your craft.

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  7. Diana, happy anniversary! You clearly take your writing/blogging to heart and it’s evidence in all that you write and the tribe you are growing. Your sweat and toil are felt and received.

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  8. Pingback: What Makes a Successful Blogger? | A Good Blog is Hard to Find

  10. Interesting questions! I blog as an exercise to examine my current experience and search out things that have happened or impressed me in my life journey, and to see how these experiences have impacted on how I think and act now. My stories and poems are primarily written for my children to prompt memories of experiences they shared with me over the years. But in the process I have learned to my surprise there are others who are interested in my journey, and in our contacts I’ve come to appreciate how this extension cyber family can help me in my education about life and its meaning. My cyber family has introduced me to a whole new world of thinking.

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    • Ian, that’s wonderful. Thanks for sharing the behind-the-scenes thoughts on your precious journey and growth. Can you share briefly one such experience that has impacted your thinking or behavior? It is also your gracious receptivity that has enabled you to enjoy new paradigms of thought in the cyberworld.

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      • There are so many and its hard to make a choice. How about this one. When assigned to India in 1965 I went with the impression I was being sent there as I possessed knowledge which would be of benefit to the people there. It wasn’t long before I realized there were people there with academic qualifications that far outweighed what I brought along. Being there then was to be a learning experience for me rather than what I’d imagined in accepting the posting. Of course I was not a liability there and did have something to offer, but more important to me was the realization that we can learn from each other regardless of culture. You can be sure it changed my attitude forever and on future assignments I saturated myself in the written history folkways and culture of the place I was next assigned to before setting foot in my new territory of assignment.

  11. ‘ I was able to distill my purpose in blogging to the extraordinary satisfaction of making an impact, in whatever way that happens.’
    I totally relate…my blog is more of a website/blog and the blog part is still evolving…but its goal is to make an impact of some sort…strangely, I receive more responses via e-mail than comments…does that happen to you also?
    Take care holistic journey-er.
    peace

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    • Er…if you’ve seen the volume of comments here on the posts the past few months…eerrr I honestly would hate to get more in email LOL. Keeping it real.

      We’re all evolving. =)

      Thank you so much for staying connected, L.

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  12. honest writing is like ripping open your heart and sewing it back up, one raw emotion, one meaningful word at a time. The process may be like shedding your old skin for something newer, better, more refined. That’s great writing. Holistic writing. That is what I see here.

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    • A grand slam of a post. I’m wiped out (drained…remember? LOL) but you send me to the oblivion of rest tonight with a smile.

      HoLiSTIC writing.
      Oh, I LOVE it.

      *Alchemy*

      THANKS, NS.

      HW

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  15. I always get so much from your posts, but this one is different. It’s like you read my mind, out loud, and told my soul what it wanted to hear – filling in the blanks when you came to them. And there are blanks, from time to time I wonder why I hit publish, put myself out there and hang my vulnerabilities from a wire for anyone to see – only to realize that maybe nobody is looking to begin with … and that is okay, because my desire is to write words that mean something to somebody, even if it is me. This is so wonderful, and I want you to know that I happened to read it when I needed the most. Thank you for the inspiration. You are so incredibly talented. Awesome post!

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    • I knew I’d done something right when I saw more than a like from you. =) And it’s funny, this thing called connection and vibes, bc I told myself this wk it was time to visit again.

      Don’t mean to sound boastful but many of the comments I get are meaningful. Yours is esp so and I will add it to a special list of feedback I plan to look at again in the distant future or even show my son when he’s grown.

      It’s interesting to hear your confession bc you’re for real. You aRe a writer. I mean, you’ll even write for paper. LOL! You have quite the way with words, esp with the humor (although I really take to your meditative posts) AnD your blog looks great. So I know you’re not the only one you speak to when you hit publish.

      You might want to chk out my response to DavidProsser. It doesn’t directly apply to you bc you’re a writer in a way he does not claim to be and you two came to WP for diff reasons.

      Either way, I’d love to know…what now? So dO you love your blog? Your writing? Your blogging? Do you feel refueled? Or something else?

      Thanks much for the faithful support.
      Glad to be walking alongside.

      Diana

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  16. Happy birthday to your wonderful blog. So glad we met on OM’s blog so i could start following you here on your own blog. I enjoy my blog though I feel like I don’t write as often as I should. The process is fun.

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  18. I knew it. Tagging along with the Holistic Wayfarer on her journey was definitely the right choice. Grabbing a cup of coffee, sitting at my favourite spot on the couch, far enough to see who comes in and close enough to interact with whoever is around, and centred enough to observe everyone else enjoying themselves in the process. It is an honourable privilege to read Diana’s posts as she continues to pour out her heart from the bottom to the top, allowing us to receive and enjoy the overflow of the beauty and passion contained within.

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  19. Thank you for sharing your beautiful words Diana. You have a real gift and we all appreciate it. I also have come to really appreciate the amazing relationships that can be established through blogging. And when we write, it’s got to be authentic in order for it to be truly deep and meaningful. Thank you for sharing your passion and heart.
    =)

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  20. Happy Anniversary, Diana. Like so many others, I admire and appreciate your constantly aspiring. I also applaud your resourcefulness and tenacity in cultivating an outlet to express your intrepid creative spirit while also engaging so fully as a mom, which can be excruciatingly isolating, as you know. As much as I might yearn for more impact and audience through my writing, I am (slowly) coming around to treasuring something I hadn’t even realized for so long: I write to know who I am, and can be, as well as to inspire. Shine on. xoxo

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    • Inspire us you have, C. I love the SLoW realization. The dawning is priceless, esp when it’s a sElf-discovery. That’s dance, isn’t it? To find out who you can be…don’t know ’til you do it, ’til you fly. If you are as eloquent on the floor as you have grown in print the last year, you have one amazing year ahead of you.

      A appreciate the praise, love, and faithful support, I think more than I can say. Thanks for staying a part of my community.

      D.

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      • Thank you so much–you humble me. FYI, something has gone awry with my reader as I realize I am not getting new posts from some blogs, including yours. Hence, I am following now, again–I hope. (My phone is out, too–a veritable technological cloud over me :)).

      • C, I’ve disappeared from many Readers. A number of followers have graciously refollowed. I don’t see you in the Stats. If you don’t mind, you can follow by email. Tap open any title here to open up sidebar and you’ll see button on the right. Sorry for the trouble. I appreciate it. Hope your phone revives.

        Love,
        Diana

    • SirenaTales: I started out hoping to impact/inspire others, but it has been a surprising journey into becoming someone new. I write to hear. So I really like your “I write to know who I am, and can be, as well as to inspire.”

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  21. Blogging is a much greater experience than I ever imagined. I listen to music the same as you described, I want to hear it all.

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  22. Your blog post is beautifully written! Thanks so much for the follow and I’ve so enjoyed my journey blogging since I started 4 months ago.

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  23. Your words ring so true to me. I’ve started my blog just a little under a year ago and have experienced many of the same emotions as you: the exhaustion after hitting “publish,” the feeling of giving everything you’ve got inside of you, the elation of making a (however small) impact on readers, the sense of community. I’m glad we found each other!

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  24. Diana, I thought of you earlier when I was using my iPad to comment on a blog, and the page rode up suddenly, as it is wont to do. I inadvertently hit unfollow. I believe this may be the source of my other following issues, only this time I noticed :). Cheers! xo

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  25. I particularly like your “Every post is a birth.” I began blogging as an outlet for years of accumulated writings, so each post was sort of a rediscovery of who I have been and sometimes a surprise at how much I’ve changed. It’s been a revelation to recognize the process that was going on in some of the difficult years and sheer joy to discover the grace in them. These days, I often am writing in response to what I hear in your and other’s blog posts and recognizing through my writing how yours is impacting who I am becoming. Discovering this connection to the world makes me immensely grateful that I lived long enough to be a part of this amazing experience.

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    • Breathtaking, Eileen. All of it. Your rediscovery, fresh discoveries, your writing in response to me and others and the ongoing evolution of your person.

      I’m left without words.
      But
      thank you dearly for
      letting me know.

      Love,
      Diana

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  28. It is because of your compassion and your articulation with your words that readers love to take in all the words you share. Thanks for your continuing to feed our souls and for the reminder to write as though it were our last post. 🙂

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  29. A lovely party nevertheless! Congratulations on your one year of blogging. The ‘birthing’ pangs of writing are tough but then comes the elation (along with the exhaustion) when the ‘baby’ is born and all who share in the birth become part of this living, breathing and growing community. I am blessed to be a part of your community Diana 🙂

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  30. Happy Birthday to AHJ! Such a unique way to celebrate this tremendous milestone. Every word you pour out shows how much of an effort goes into making it what it is. I hope you don’t stop. I like the birth analogy. For most part, our blog is our baby and if we don’t nurture it, what’s the point? Hope you celebrate in style!

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  32. YOu cleary get a lot of comments so you hardly need mine but here’s my tuppeny’s worth. Great writing. Clear, simple sentences with a lot of power and you convey your abstract thoughts well; pull them out ot the air like a literary-Picasso. Well done and keep it up. I would like to see more poetry from you but more than that, sometimes I would like to have clarity so I can best appreciate your thoughts. At one pointin this post you have the phrase, ‘was one many men would have’. Up until this point I had the impression you were a woman. Because there was no emphasis on ‘men’ I now assumed you to be a man. I carried on reading with that in mind and later became even more confused. If you had used italics for ‘men’ this would have been cleared up.
    Also some of your sentences would benefit from a comma or two. Here is an example. I had to read it three times before I understood it.: Really there are too many ideas (clauses) crammed into one sentence; many men and women approach, they approach people, they approach work, the whole thing is interesting. Trying to keep the ideas to two or one is much better.
    But isn’t the angle many men and women approach people and work from interesting?

    Great post though. Thanks very much

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    • Well, you learned the right way to provide suggestive feedback. Sandwich it with praise. =)

      It is very interesting (and helpful) to be taken outside yourself. First off, not too long ago when I was at about 4500 comments, I received my first constructive input on the writing. All I’d heard was golden praise, and the critique was helpful. I got it only bc I’d asked for it: I tended toward long sentences. I was aware of that, felt I got away with it, and had been varying them with short sentences.

      All to say I will continue to watch them. After careful consideration, I don’t believe the italic would’ve “sounded” good. Though I can see how that would’ve kept things clear for you. The adv. “curiously” might do it. The context also helps, as I follow up with mention of my husband. I’ll sit on your feedback and likely return to the post with my shears, as I do with many posts.

      “I contemplated it and discovered my reason was curiously one that many men would have. Impact.”

      (Actually added “that” after one, which makes for a more natural read.)

      Thank you for taking the time reading and commenting, and the follow. I really appreciate the support. It’s a special, thoughtful community here. Looks like you fit right in.

      HW

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  33. Thank you so much for stopping by my photo blog and your very kind comments…it now means I have found your excellent words, thoughts and inspirational musings. You are one of the most engaging bloggers I have seen, in a long time. I’m so pleased you left that comment. Have a wonderful day!

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    • How sweet, BGal. My pleasure visiting. Wish I had your magic eye. I appreciate the lovely feedback and what looks like a thoughtful follow. Make yourself at home and feel free to pipe in on our discussions.

      Xxx
      HW

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      • HW – I really appreciate you stopping by my blog site, Storytellers: Women Creating New Life Stories. You write powerfully and authentically from your soul . . . something all of us need to do in our writing, in our living. It matters. One line at a time, one life at a time.

        Ellen

      • Hi Ellen,

        I appreciate your time here. I quite enjoyed your blog. “One line at a time, one life at a time.” Thoughtful, precious. I’m glad you can see I give it my all here. My readers deserve it.

        Thanks so much for the hand squeeze. =)

        Diana

  36. I always benefit from your journey in blogging you touch a chord deep within no matter how you deliver your message, here you softly remind me of the importance of sharing daily in our lives, and you probably also did that for many others. I have written thousands of poems over time, and yet I kept them to myself until 2010, I never knew what it was until 2009. Most were always written to and for God, and the words came so fast I would never have time to read them as I was like a machine and simply wrote what fell from within. In 2009 when I finally succumbed to many of my disabilities that happened years ago in the military, I could not work any longer in the world. Yet never did I realize that he would call me to share the poems in 2009, so I begin organizing them typing up 39 manuscripts and having them copyrighted…them from 2010 to 2013. I trusted God and started sharing because I never thought anyone would be interested in reading them. But as I saw the comments and begin to see how words touch our fellow humans. There is a great importance and meaning within what we share. God has prepared many of us for this new age, with everything we have been through in our lives. I wrote all of the poems from those experiences. It seems like God with those who have the desire to share with others have place us here to help prepare more generations coming behind us. As I now read my own poetry that is shared I see my life within periods not of years but decades as the markers, and I see first, how a relationship with him changed the heart or a young rebel, how he taught me to humbly share, not looking for anything in return but to place seeds of love that would flourish in another’s mind. I say that because you do the same, and with me there is a prick inside which pushed me to share another poem, not knowing which one it is until the spirit within says this is the one…share it. It is something I must do daily each day, because he has asked me to, and he did not leave me unprepared as he has not left many other unprepared. We all need each other to continue to grow, because though we each are unique we provide a nourishing healing in lives of other…and as you always show with your messages they are important and meaningful. He prepared us to be other brothers and sisters keepers with our messages but always with the reminder it has great responsibility, because words can lift and inspired, and also tear down and destroy! I had not visited your blog lately, I had a lot on my plate with the death of a family member and my daughters surgery last Thursday…she is well. I felt I neglected some of my blogger family! And as usually with you the words fell easily! Have a wonderful week ahead my sister…God bless you and your family!

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    • W, I’m relieved your daughter is okay. And please accept my condolences for the loss in the family; I don’t feel qualified to say more.

      Thanks so much for the priceless glimpse into your ministry of words. You said it best and fully:

      “We all need each other to continue to grow”

      Love it.

      D.

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  37. I love my blog. Yes, indeed.

    Simply put, it’s like a place where I can put my creative expressions on the virtual refrigerator. My blog is multifaceted, and whether I’m posting my photography, my artwork, my prose or my poetry, honoring my loved ones, new blogging friends, or working through some tough spiritual challenges or posing philosophical questions, I am very delighted to have a virtual ‘room of my own’, and honored that a few people find inspiration in my work.

    I have to say, I don’t spend as nearly as much time as you do lovingly marinating your posts. Some times, when I’m overflowing with inspiration, I’ve written multiple posts in a day and I can’t stop until it’s run its course (and sometimes it shows!). The Muse demands attention.

    I wrote this in a blog post once about my compulsive writing habits:

    “For all the posts I have written on this blog, there are many more unwritten ones in my head, many more conversations and random thoughts as I go throughout my day, recalling the exchange of ideas and continuing a dialogue long after I part ways with others. I’ve been this way for as long as I can remember.

    I have words and ideas and stories in me that need out. I find it extremely difficult to find people in real life who have the time and the ability (and the energy) to engage with me in intense intellectual exchanges. I had found scant few over the years. I have also found that my intensity and my curiosity about others and my almost psychic ability to reach into them is a little overwhelming, at times. People find it a little daunting to keep up with the pace I set or be comfortable with as much as I perceive about them. Yes, I AM difficult to keep up with, sometimes. I have an uncanny ability to see deep into others. This is who I am.

    Now that I have accepted I have a compulsion to express myself, it releases me from my guilt AND, ultimately releases others from having to meeting the need for me. The guilt I have that I am ‘too much’, ‘too intense’, ‘too sensitive’ has rather haunted me for quite some time. Expressing myself is a large part of who I am, and, like a sculpture or painter that needs to capture his muse in marble or canvas, I have a burning desire to immortalize my experiences and my beloved sources of inspiration in the words I write.”

    You wrote:
    “I feel the writer’s breath, his laugh, her cry. I’ve seen how high your sky is, how deep your night. When I see a reader on my Stats burrow into my archive, I almost want to cover myself. Hug my chest. He’s digging to know me better. He lifts page after page of my mind. Her understanding of the things deeply important to me will grow clearer with each post. She hears my voice.”

    I love this! Yes, being truly SEEN is precious and RARE gift. In our modern times we are inundated with a glut of useless information and shallow media sound bites, we’ve lost the ability to connect with each other on deep levels. In a world where we have so many avenues of communication the quality of most of it leaves me empty. Ah, but that’s where the blogging community makes up for it in spades.

    As I mentioned on Stephanae’s blog,

    “I love Holistic Wayfarer’s space. She created a lovely niche for herself and I had the pleasure of making her acquaintance a while back. She’s an amazing woman!”

    You ARE warm and engaging. I still get warm fuzzies when I think of the delightful energy of our conversations.

    You are one of the few people that really make me want to be a better writer and poet. Maybe if I could discipline myself a little better, I might be as good as you someday. =)

    Warmly,

    Casey

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    • Your confident (unapologetic!) YES, I LOVE MY BLOG made me smile big, Casey. Now, thAt’s what I wanna hear! From you and all my readers.

      I love that you relish the virtual room of your own.

      I appreciate how you came to this point and shed the guilt: “ultimately releases others from having to meeting the need for me.” I know too many women in their 30s, 40s who have not matured enough to free others this way. People’s lives don’t revolve around satisfying our needs.

      I’d given you space to work on your projects in peace, as I support everything that brings you joy and satisfaction – on and off the blog. But thanks for taking the time here. =)

      And though discipline may be a part of how you can improve in the art of writing, perhaps you don’t need to see it that way. Stave off the encroaching guilt. You just write and blog in keeping with yoUr rhythm, pace, and style. Just be all you, the best you in the moment.

      Xx
      D.

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      • Diana,

        I’m glad you smiled big. My creative expression went underground during my twenties as I was building my career in the biotech field and spending time exploring the major metropolitan city I worked in. I hardly even wrote a thing during that time. I had a husband and a great social life, but I always felt something was missing, but I just didn’t know what that was.

        I lost the intellectual stimulation of the laboratory, and the social connections I had through work. And, after having 3 girls in 3.5 years, I started really losing myself. Blogging helped give me a creative and intellectual outlet. I think it actually helped me become a more thoughtful mother and more well-rounded person as I wrote about the transformational process from scientist to mother to writer/artist and spiritual seeker.

        I have been quiet also in part because I’ve been having to have repeat cervical biopsies. They found low grade cellular abnormalities that they’ve wanted to investigate further. I’ve been worried and not much fun to be around.

        But I stopped feeling scared and upset and started thinking positively and getting back into the game. I’ll be a little bit more sociable, I think.

        “You just write and blog in keeping with yoUr rhythm, pace, and style. Just be all you, the best you in the moment.”

        I shall.

        With that in mine, I shared a few old posts of mine from some other blogs, to talk a little bit about what I used to do in one of my careers. If you feel like checking it out…

        warmly,

        Casey

  38. “When I see a reader on my Stats burrow into my archive, I almost want to cover myself. Hug my chest. He’s digging to know me better. He lifts page after page of my mind.”

    Whew. This really hit me hard. This is one of the reasons why I started blogging under my personal name.

    I’ve mentioned before about having social anxiety. Keeping myself off the social media grid as much as possible. To the point of it being self harming. My personal Facebook page, where I only have people I care about, has almost all the posts removed every second day.

    Thank you for this wonderful, deep, post.

    Reply

      • I know. It doesn’t make sense. I suppose it is easier for me to be open to strangers, than it is to friends?

        Either way, your post was beautiful as always. I’m so happy to have found your blog and follow along on your journey.

  39. Its so true – what you say here. Quite often, I am told that it is more important to blog regularly and it doesn’t matter if the content is not that great all the time. I somehow can’t bring myself to do it. Like you, I feel obligated to put out something worth while – something that my readers feel is worth their while. Simply loved your expression. Kudos!

    Reply

    • Hi Vibha, I appreciate your connecting – and following. =) I was crushed when I had to reduce my postings to once a week last fall with the start of our homeschool group program. The funny thing is, it didn’t hurt my growth at all. Frequency is “important” when you’re starting out, for SEO purposes. But really, nothing beats content. And frankly, it would bug me to be hit with frequent postings from a blog I follow if they are fluff.

      Welcome to this special community.
      Diana

      Reply

  40. Well written. I love my own blog in a sense that it does represent some important facets of myself. I do consider it partially as a digital gift legacy for loved ones and close friends. So I dimly write with this in the back of my mind: I won’t be around forever.

    Reply

  41. i really dig your blog and enjoy the way you word and put things and its deep and has a so many meanings and feeling. i really dig where you are going with it and you are on point. peace and the best

    Reply

  42. Hi Diana, thanks very much for the mention, great piece here, keep on keeping on, I will leave some more detailed feedback later, only just got the internet back, and, it’s my brother’s wedding today, so gotta go. Speak soon, Dom

    Reply

  43. Thank you for this blog post and for yourself in it, Diana. 🙂

    I do love my blog but want do better…a theme that meets certain criteria but still must be free. Ah, just technicalities, just the vehicle for the journey, eh? It’s akin to me on the bike, it’s me on the blog platform. Alas, I’m lazy…I just can’t bothered to constantly search the closet, try on new dresses because then I have to straighten my pantyhose, buy matching shoes…..fixing a blog with new theme makes me somewhat impatient. It’s like painting a bike. Couldn’t we just hurry up and get going on the trip?

    In a casual, slightly absent-minded way, I do consider my blog , a personal legacy for providing a snapshot of the very best of what I could offer….especially to loved ones who know me well. And if the blog interests a few other people, great.

    I say that it’s a casual way, sashaying along the road with bits of writing and photos, because I don’t blog that often nor do I stick to strictly 1 topic. In fact, I live thousands of km. from my birth family so some of my art work, my photos and my machinations, are new to them. But no doubt, the style…is familiar to them.

    Reply

    • I find it curious that you would use casual and “absent-minded” to describe a personal legacy, Jean, though you do explain the “casual”. That is wonderful your loved ones can keep up with your (inner and physical) journey through your lovely blog. You remind me what a startling thing it is we have in our hands, really, this vehicle of blogging. Art, communication, our own history, hopes, mileposts, song to be able to share with the world and dear ones.

      I don’t blame you for loving your blog. (I’m so glad my own wheels caught on it. ) And loving your blog is what I was urging of readers in this post, to get to that point – however uniquely you all do it. =)

      D.

      Reply

  44. What do you want me to write, expect me to write about 50 years of marriage? How to express–“Express yourself!”? I have glommed onto your place of self-expression. I am looking back to your beginnings. I am impressed with your purpose and especially with the comments on blogging. Imagine I can write one short essay/narrative and be seen and read by hundreds of like-minded persons who crave and thrive on the written word! What delight I get knowing that. Thank you for your site. Oh, the anniversary with pictures can be found at October 12, 1963/2013, on my memoriesofatime place.

    Reply

  45. Pingback: Do You Love Your Blog? | Life Redeux

  46. Diana … Thank you so for writing this as I feel 60 days of blogging has had me wake up! … Reaching my vulnerable quiet inner world to express it to its fullest… I am passionate about reaching others.. A friend of mine begged me to create a blog… as I was starting to somewhat share my angel insights on FB ..and she had no FB page…everything changed when I went into the unknown world of blogging and dove in head first.. I have no real writing skills.. Yet come with my heart wide open… Thank you so much for putting your complete backbone into this …setting an example for those of us who just lifted the sheets up.. I have so much to learn… And feel blessed even on this beautiful sunny day to have spent 6 hours reading your blog! Heart to Heart Robyn

    Reply

    • The honor has been mine, Robyn. Your six hours prove it. I really have appreciated the hearty support. I’ve glimpsed learning, passion, toughness forged through hardship, and an overflow of love from your comments. I could be wrong, but I sensed a kindred all-or-nothing spirit. You lay all your cards down. You’re in – when you are. I look fwd to my revisit – which I will manage those moments I surface from all that goes into blogging – and homeschooling. I am behind on the getting back to readers. A heartfelt thanks for your joining A Holistic Journey. And I’ve no doubt you will come to love your blog – you and your readers.

      Love,
      Diana

      Reply

  47. Hey Unnie,

    A breath indeed. I relate to your comment about when you hit the ‘submit’ button. Blogging has definitely opened up a whole new world for me. It does feel great when someone can relate to what you write about, because sometimes, our thoughts don’t get written on paper, and ultimately, being heard and being acknowledged is one of the best feelings in the world, whether it’s through a comment, like or message.

    Thanks for a great and insightful write 🙂

    Jenny

    Reply

    • I did something right to get both a like and comment from you. -) So glad this post spoke to you. It’s nice hearing of your personal satisfaction and experience in the blogging. I really do enjoy your site. I can feel your heart, see your joy in what you put together. I can’t tell you – though I’ve tried, in posts like these – the impact the blogging has had on me. Been entirely transformative. Thanks to support like yours. And you can stop calling me Unnie. Very sweet and respectful of you. But it’s uh….more Korean than I am. He he. Just Diana, or even D, if you want, will do.

      Xxx

      Reply

      • ^^ no problem Diana, usually when I like someone I do have a habit of using those words. Just always had very close cousins, but D or Diana next time ~~

        I enjoy a lot of the posts you write btw !

        Words do have an impact, and Im glad to be sharing my thoughts with likeminded people.

        Till next time 🙂
        Jenny

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