Milestone

"If you really want to do something, you’ll find a way.

 If you don’t, you’ll find an excuse."

~ unknown

One year ago I found a treasure of a book at a used book sale. It was called A Small Heaven by Jane Ranney Rzepka, a slim volume filled with short reflections from the author's life. Each story, whether it was about getting locked in the attic with her son or a comment made by a shoe salesman, was a snapshot of an ordinary moment in an ordinary life. And from these snapshots Ranney Rzepka drew insights and made connections that we can all relate to. I loved it. More than that, I was inspired by it. A few days after I got the book this blog, Postcards From Tuesday, was born. And a year later, I am happy to say it is still alive and kicking!

Now if I were a person with a good track record of follow through on my ideas, this milestone would be no big deal. I mean, it's not like I decided to write a book. All I set out to do was write a few paragraphs every week. In terms of scope, it's not even up there with my fourth grade New Year's resolution to read the entire Bible!  

I am not a person with good follow through though. I am that person who joins the gym on January 1, full of promise and resolutions, only to find excuses not to go come February. I don't even think I made it through Genesis in fourth grade (or ever for that matter). So a year of blogging, 44 posts to be exact (there are vacations and the occasional rough week after all), is cause for celebration!

I LOVE writing this blog. It's given me a new lens to view my life through. Everything from a walk with my grandma to the pain of ending my marriage is worthy of reflection. And every story, no matter how small, has something to teach me if I spend a little time with it. That's the gift of reflection. We have this one life full of big stuff and little stuff. The big stuff is hard to miss. But most of our days are not spent graduating from college, getting married, having babies, losing loved ones. Most of our days are spent with the small stuff: going to work, walking the dog, making dinner, sharing a beer with friends, washing dishes, driving our kids around town, driving ourselves to distraction with too much to do and not enough time to be. Writing this blog reminds me to stop and look, to be present for my life.

That's not what keeps me writing though. I could accomplish that with a private journal, which is of course a great place to go with feelings and ideas, with raw, unedited thoughts. What keeps me writing this blog is that people are reading it! YOU are reading it. I'm enough of a diva that I bloom in the presence of an audience. I am addicted to the page hit counter on my blog site. It makes my day that you are taking a few minutes to read this. I am really quite flattered!

But even that is not what inspires me to keep this up week after week. What truly inspires me is when someone tells me that a post helped them not feel so alone in their struggles or gave them a different perspective on something in their life. I write about what I am moved by or struggling with. But I know that my life is not that unique. We are all connected by our shared humanity. I find that connection incredibly rich. So when you tell me that something I wrote moved you, know that I am moved right back at you! We're all on this journey together, my friends. And I am so grateful to have you all to walk with. 

Thank you for keeping me going!