I have so many things to be grateful for, not least among them the ten-thousand people who, for whatever reason, took a moment to click “follow” on my website. I reached this blogging milestone just a few days ago.
Each follow I’ve received over my 7 years of blogging has been received as a gift of love, a “micro-moment of positivity resonance,” as Barbara Fredrickson defines love in her book on the subject. Each click translates into a smile, a hug, a friendly wave, a nod of encouragement, a cheerful thumbs-up, a coin of appreciation tossed to a fellow blogger, a way of saying I see you and like what you are doing.
I know most of those clicks were from friendly people who in their breeze through the blogosphere stopped for but a moment to wish me well and rarely returned. I certainly do not get 10,000 views on my posts each week, not do I expect to. But the fact that they took the time to make that click, for whatever reason, is deeply appreciated.
Many who are following this blog have become part of what I think of as my blogging family, a mutual admiration community I meet with online. It is you who I am “breaking bread” with each week when I send out my posts, read your comments, and visit your sites to see what you are up to.
My first blog post featured in the “Freshly Pressed” column was about “Blogging and the Accident of Touching“, which is how I see blogging, a way to reach out and touch others and be touched in return by your responses and posts.
Thank you for helping me reach this blogging milestone.
Today I am blowing ten-thousand kisses back to you.
Painting by Emil Nolde
Wow! 10,000! That is indeed a milestone of some magnitude! Congratulations.
Thank you Stevie. I’m a bit in awe of that number myself.
How wonderful! Congratulations, Deborah! It’s a pleasure to be a part of your community and to break bread with you. Upwards and onwards! Oh, and I just had to go over and read your “Freshly Pressed” post. I loved it so much I’ve reblogged it on poetryjoy.com so my readers can enjoy it too! Blessings and love. xo 😊💜
Thank you for the reblog, Joy!
Congrats Deborah! I love your perspective on breaking bread and sharing community. I too am grateful for the blogging community that nurtures and supports me. Kudos and Happy Holidays!
I hadn’t known blogging could be such fun and so rewarding. Happy holidays to you too..
Indeed. It has been a surprising pleasure for me too. The connecting even more than the writing.
Congratulations! That’s a huge milestone. You have already built an audience for your novel! Way to go Deborah.
Thanks, Catherine. I hope so. That had been one of my original goals, but now it’s just having a platform to write, to share what I love and connect with others. Hopefully some here will want to read my novel when it comes out, but from what I’ve heard, huge traffic or sales do not actually come from the blog itself. So many writers have been disappointed in that phenomena. But publishers do want you to have a solid social media presence, So if that is true, perhaps reaching this milestone counts.
Congrats! That’s a big number!