So it's a brand new year and I find myself pondering what I want to post here in the months ahead. When I started this blog--on July 4--I assumed I'd be writing a lot about writing, and for a while, I did. But honestly, what I have personally enjoyed the most has been the social aspect of this. I even feel that writing too much about writing doesn't make much sense, because it doesn't have that much to do with the lives of maybe half of the people who come here. I think we come here for each other. I suspect all I really have to do is put out a welcome sign. :)
The thing I like second best to the social part is when we talk about things--often weird--that provoke stories from you guys. I love that, hearing about ghosts you've known, or strange, amazing, exciting, scary, or touching things that have happened to you. Partly, I like it because I learn more about everybody here, but I also like it because it stretches my mind and imagination, always a good thing for a writer.
So I guess what I'm saying is that I'm not sure what I'm going to say in my posts from here on out. Now and then I'm sure I'll say something about the writing life, just because it's so much of my life, and also because I hope it's helpful to any beginners who might tune in. Sometimes I'm tempted to post about current events or politics, but then I back off, thinking there are so many better places to do that, and I don't want to risk disturbing the equilibrium here. There are many, many places to argue on the intertubes, but there are precious few places where actual friends can talk in an expansive kind of way with the assurance that they'll be treated with affection, openness, and respect. I like to think this is one of those places, and--speaking just for me--I want that and seem to need it, too. I really value people behaving decently to one another, and that's what happens here.
I'd like to say thank you for a few things. To katiebird who inspired and provided my website, and who kept gently nudging me to blog. To andif for her photos. To all of you who make the now-and-then newcomers feel welcome, so this place doesn't feel like an impenetrable clique to strangers. I thank you for the simple fact that you keep showing up. That's what makes it work, and I do think it works. I thank you for your honesty, openness, and flexibility. I thank you for your sense of humor!!!! I like you guys. That's an understatement. :) My life is better for knowing you, and my blog would be nothin' without you. I also thank you for your own blogs, where we also go to get informed and refreshed, encouraged and supported. Without your blogs, this place would get to feeling awfully self-absorbed to me; I'm grateful that I can visit the neighbors where other people's lives are going on.
If my posts seem a little scattered for awhile, you'll know why, which is just that I'm feeling my way from here on. But I know by now that on days when I can't think of a thing to say, I don't have to force it. I can just keep the lights on and the coffee going, make sure there's also hot water for tea, move the cats off of Family Man's lounge chair, and then sit back and enjoy whatever it is you come up with in the comments.
If you have any thoughts about all this, or requests or suggestions, I'd be delighted to hear them, but it's also okay if you don't. I'm not at ALL worried that you'll find other things to talk about today. :)
