My little blog is going to have it's first birthday on Tuesday. I originally intended this to be a place where I could post some pictures and mp3's, write a few essays and keep up with friends and family living far away. And I've definitely enjoyed that part of it. But along the way it became something a little more dear to me than just a travelogue or excuse to post silly photos. I have been a journal keeper pretty consistently since I was eight. I have boxes and boxes of books filled with my thoughts and feelings from the last 22 years. I love to write and the process of recording the things that happen to me and the way I feel about them has been and continues to be incredibly cathartic. But as I read through those journals, I notice that I have a tendency to write more in depth when I am struggling with something and so I have volumes of information about boy troubles and work issues and church questions. I sometimes feel like my journal reflect constant stress but no resolution, no reflection-just a need to get things out of my head and onto a page. So while I love and treasure those journals, I guess I don't feel like they are a true representation of me as a whole person. As I read over the entries of the last year on my blog, I feel like this place really captures who I am. I've talked about things that worry me, lessons I've learned, things I'm trying to do better, things I love-whether it's people or music or ideas. I read this blog and I think-yep, this is me. I love having a place where I can bounce ideas around and actually get some perspective from others-something my journal never allows. And I love, love, LOVE how much writing I have done this year. It is the thing I love to do most in the whole world, a passion that links me to both of my parents.
I know that lots of people look at blogs as pretty self-indulgent. "Hey world, I have something to say and apparently I think you all need to read it." And perhaps it is. But as I have been a part of the blog-world this year, and as I have read about my friends and their friends and their friends, I feel like my real world has broadened. I have learned interesting things, gotten new perspectives, had some of my own conclusions reinforced, and managed to kill alot of time at work.
So in celebration of Replikate's first birthday, I'm copying an idea I've seen on a few other blogs and sending a present to one of YOU. On Tuesday, March 6 I will randomly select an IP address that visits my blog and you will get a real live birthday surprise in the mail.
See? Not so self-absorbed after all!
10 comments:
please oh please oh please, let it be me. not that i haven't gotten enough free gifts from you already. thank you very very very much, once again.
hey, does it also count when it is march 6th for me already? :)
It's a good day to have a first birthday on. Same as my heart and lungs :D I hope to see you this weekend.
astrid-it's your first transplant birthday tomorrow??!!
i just emailed Caleb-sunday is on for sure. We'll toast to your lungs!
tom-cross your little fingers.
gretel-hmmmm, i think you still qualify!
Thanks for sharing...I love reading about what's going on in your life. Are you going to be out here for the reunion?
keep up the good work...
it is 7 am in germany. happy birthday! ;) i know i might not win but i wanted to say i am a fan of your blog anyway.
Wow, it's been a whole year already, huh?
I guess time also flies when you're reading about someone else having fun.
yes, i'm glad i looked today! although i have already gotten so many presents from you (work-related goodies) that i would feel guilty winning.
but happy birthday replikate! i enjoy you.
corinne (tiger)
oops. I have repeatedly referred to blogs as "self-indulgent," because I'm paranoid that is what mine might become unless people who are reading actually comment- but now that I'm learning what blogs are all about, I realize the truth:
Blogs are for the peeping toms of internetworld.
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