I was recently bestowed the wonderful honor of being nominated for a Beautiful Blogger Award on WordPress by one of my peers (Waywardspirt) in the blogosphere.
It does feel pretty nice and especially so, since it’s come around the time of the holidays—when a lot of us experience roller coasters of emotion combined with at times, feelings of loneliness–even when seemingly surrounded by friends and/or family.
Everything is so busy at this time of year and I find myself prematurely (in the sense that I don’t typically look back at the previous year until around New Year’s) reviewing the past eleven months.
I have no agenda and do not use this blog to promote or tout myself, any product, service or company. I quite simply write about whatever I feel like writing about.
It is mostly a balancing tool for me—that is, it helps keep me centered and well-rounded; at least I think it does, so I’m going with that.
My life is pretty much about things other than writing or blogging.
Yet, there is no doubt I will continue blogging as long as I am able to.
I am not here to make money. Seriously, is there even any money to be made from it in the first place? Will I put a PayPal donation button up at some point? I don’t think so. It’s never been about the money for me or I’d still be in Colorado.
This is all about expression, freedom and the challenge to write when your old dog thinks it’s lonely and is making whimpering sounds until you come up out of the basement and remind her you’re just 15 feet or so away so you can continue your blog post. She lies back down, comforted in the knowledge I am still here and she is not alone. Well, she thinks that for about ten minutes until I am out of her sight again and she thinks she’s alone again.
Blogging helps me feel not alone, too.
When we take our cues from animals we are offered a window to the world that is not typically considered by humans in their day-to-day existence.
One of the insights that our dog Chelsea has offered me is that we do not like being alone, especially as we grow older. That may sound like Skelley is once again demonstrating his command of the obvious.
But this year has seen quite a bit of change for me—Y.O.C. (Year Of Change acronym penned by my friend and former co-worker Renee). I changed everything in my life—where I lived, job, living situation—but the blogging has been somewhat of an oasis of companionship and consistency. Hittingthesweetspot was there for me to get my ya-yas out through all the change and into the changes to come.
We are not meant to be alone. The WordPress blogging community is a rich tapestry of people from around the world. They support one another, provide friendship and laughter. They can keep you from feeling alone, too—which is one of the benchmarks of friendship.
As I reflect back on the past eleven months, it is clear to me that although I may have been justifying my move in many different ways, love and not wanting to be alone were clearly the driving forces behind all the change.
Has it all been smooth and easy? I can say most of it, fortunately, has. Rhonda, along with Chelsea has helped make sure of this. I am hopefully returning the favor for them and I will keep soothing Chelsea whenever Rhonda is out and about, and Chelsea is feeling lonely.
I’d like to thank Waywardspirit for nominating me for the Beautiful Blogger Award. This is further evidence that I am surrounded by people who are most importantly beautiful on the inside. I am reminded that although corporations have bastardized this sentiment in one fashion or another over the years in the name of profit, people really do make the difference.
To this end, I would suggest we all try to make someone who could use it, feel connected to something bigger this holiday season, with thoughtful acts of kindness and compassion.
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Jeff Olson
Good thoughts Bob – Well put!
hittingthesweetspot
I appreciate your comments, Jeff. I fully embrace all of the change in my life, but when I do look back on my time in Colorado, I think fondly of the friends I made along the way. Thanks for stopping by, old friend!
Renee
YOC for you more than me although I’m still trying. Miss you too, email me your address. Renee