I recently got a notification that I’ve been on WP for seven years now.
It has been a growing, very changeable period. I started with wanting to share an experience, and through writing about that experience, I was able to sort through what happened and how it happened and how I had contributed to it. I wanted my blog to be informative for others, and more importantly, I wanted it to be a sort of catharsis. But, as with so much of life, it turned out that I had much more to learn than to share.
So, what happened? I didn’t know it then, but I started with a question about being a human being. I was asking, where in my head do I come from? And later, where in OUR heads we do WE come from? And still later, where in our heads are we going?
This blogging experience became a journey of interior exploration which became a journey of exterior exploration, an exploration of others and how they bounce off me, how I bounce off them, and how that bouncing changes us, even if only in the smallest of ways.
When I was much younger, I used to think that everything changes. Then I thought that nothing changes. Then I realised that in between the everything and the nothing is a world of life, that if I spent too much time worrying how I should change or not change, or how others should change, that nothing would change.
Which is really interesting, because physically, lots has changed, and that lead to a further discovery of inner landscapes that I didn’t know were there. I did a 360.ยฐ What comes around goes around. ๐
In the last seven years, I got married. I moved to a different province to take a job in British Columbia’s Okanagan Valley. Then I moved, sort of, again, this time to take a job in Canada’s north. My home is in BC and I have another home, a “work home” in the Northwest Territories.
I am now an administrator and the buck stops with me. It was scary at first but I have become more comfortable as I have become more experienced. I am paid very well; I am at the top of the earning capacity for my profession, something I thought I would never achieve. I didn’t even think of it as a possibility, but now it’s a reality and I’m grateful.
My M retired. About three to four years from now, so will I. We have started looking for another home; it will likely be our last one.
As I have changed, so has the content of this blog. I started with posting about narcissism, then I slowly started posting about lots of other things. I still post about narcissism and still read about it, but it’s less dominant for me now.
My readership has changed lots too. The vast majority of the bloggers I followed in the first couple of years have stopped posting. A few announced that they were leaving. Sadly, a few passed away. Others have completely revamped their content and moved on to other topics as well.
Some of those first blogs that I started to follow are still here and I love that I’ve gotten to “know” these bloggers so well, even though we’ve never met and in some cases, I don’t even know their real names. I don’t post under my real name either – I post under my grandmother’s name. I remain cautious about the old ex-narcissist still lurking out there behind his computer screen.
Those I have followed for years now have changed too, and I have enjoyed that they have shared those changes. Some of the changes were planned major departures from the previous, others much more subtle. These bloggers welcomed me, enveloped me, and challenged me to think or feel or see in a different way. Thank you. ๐
I initially wasn’t sure how this whole blogging thing was supposed to work, but I got the hang of it. I still remember thinking that it was pretty amazing that someone would click “follow,” that people would want to read or look at what I have here. It still amazes me.
Having said that though, blogging is kind of odd. We say a whole lot about ourselves, either directly or indirectly, and we put it out there for others to look at, comment on, and to decide whether they like it or not, literally.
All of the photos in this post are of roads. They were taken through the windshield of our blue Ford truck while we were travelling rather long distances. M and I very much enjoy our long drives. We talk, we think, we daydream. These roads all lead to places large and small, unique, ugly, barren or dazzling. But really, in the end, it’s the journey, isn’t it?
Kind of like blogging. ๐
๐ Wow! Seven years is quite a long time to have a blog for!
I would like to wish you, “A happy seventh blogging anniversary, Lynette!”
Thank you so much. ๐
A couple of the people I follow have been on WP for quite a bit longer – one for about 12 years. ๐
Respect to you for continuing, changing and growing your blog. I still dip in now and again, read a few posts here and there but ran out of steam with mine and it lost momentum. Seven years! Congratulations ๐
Thank you Jenny. Itโs good to see you. ๐ As I was writing this I thought about you and your very enjoyable posts. I hope you are well. ๐
Yes, thank you, Iโm fine. Writing lazy, but fine! Work is manic, so maybe once that slows down and I can dream of being semi retired, Iโll get back to it and start another blog. Or not. ๐
I hope you do, but whatever you decide, I hope you will be well and happy. ๐
You’ve come a long way, Lynette. You should be proud of all you’ve accomplished both professionally and in your personal life. I’m happy we connected through WP!
Hi Jill, thank you. ๐ I am happy we connected through WP as well. I hope you are proud of all you have accomplished too. ๐
I am heading into my fifth year of blogging.
At several points last year I nearly abandoned my blog. Thank you for reminding me, how much this community has given me.
Congratulations on number five! ๐ A couple of times I stopped posting for a bit because I just had too much going on. It is a really great community where we learn so much from each other across borders and cultures.
I think this quote from Gandhi is appropriate.
https://familytreeourstory.com/2019/10/28/changing-the-world/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=changing-the-world
Thank you! ๐ Very true.
I enjoyed this post. It seems we all change and our lives become different as we travel through what we call life. Loved your roads and the beautiful scenery. May the future be productive and happy for you and your husband.
Thank you for your lovely comment. ๐ We do change as we chug along, even if we try to avoid it. I think change is a good thing – knocks the rust off and gives us different perspectives.
Congratulations on your 7 year journey Lynette. We are all on a journey and sometimes the roads are bumpy and sometimes not. It is the bumpy parts that we often do not like that make the road more interesting. Happy to read you and thanks for reading me. Allan
Thank you Allan. ๐ I agree that the bumps make the road more interesting and make us more interesting, too. Iโm enjoying reading about your latest journey as well. ๐
Lynette, many many congratulations for completing these glorious seven years of blogging!!
Deeksha, thank you so much for your very kind comment. ๐
Happy anniversary. Keep those essays coming!
Thank you! ๐ You too! ๐
I started blogging at the tail end of 2011, and while many of my oldest followers have given up blogging, I’m surprised by how many of the old names are still around. Happy blogaversary, as they say!
Thank you! ๐ I have a few followers from my first days and months who are still active, but many have stopped, and there is another group that still comes by but has stopped posting.
Well done Lynette. What a marvellous commitment to the act of blogging. Here’s to another seven years.
Thank you very much for your kind comment. ๐
Congratulations on reaching this milestone! I’ve seen so many bloggers come and go over the years because so few stick it out for more than a year or two because life does change. I love it when I see a blogger than has been around a while.
Thank you very much! ๐ Blogging can be a big commitment and yes, sometimes you just canโt keep it up.
I liked this post as you reflected on the last 7 years. I liked the ending also, being a journey. Recently I received a note from WordPress saying I have blogged for 9 years. I started as a tribute to a special aunt who passed away. My blog has evolved since then, and I have taken some breaks when my heart wasn’t in it to write.
I have found that I feel connected with some bloggers elsewhere, some fleetingly and some longer.
Congratulations on your anniversary, it’s a pleasure to share your insights.
Thank you very much! ๐ I would be interested in reading your thoughts on being a nine-year blogger and how you have evolved. ๐
Thank you for the idea.
I enjoyed this post Lynette. I too have been blogging for 7 years and have had a similar journey. I have “met” so many wonderful people and have actually met a few of my blogger friends in person. My blog has grown as I have grown with my writing and my confidence in sharing my experiences. Like you, I have learned so much from the blogging world. I have enjoyed it so much . I love your last sentence, I sure agree. Lyn
Thank you very much! ๐
So true, right? I have learned a lot and โmetโ so many people that I never would have otherwise encountered. Blogging has been a great journey. ๐
I love this post and the photos along with it. Those snowcapped mountains are magical. Seems I’ll ever only get to see them through your lens.
I also really liked this, “…I realised that in between the everything and the nothing is a world of life, that if I spent too much time worrying how I should change or not change, or how others should change, that nothing would change.”
You said many things in this post that also expressed my blogging experience. I’m so glad your life has gone in a direction where you sound very content with where you are. I’m happy for you and proud of you. โค๐
Thank you for your wonderfully supportive comment, Lori. ๐ Without question, you have completely made my day.
I am very content, happy for the most part and actually enjoying my age, in spite of the fact that I seem to get a little creakier every day.
I hope that you will get to see the mountains some time. You never know where that road might take you. ๐
Well said! So much truth there.
Happy Blogiversary! It’s amazing, isn’t it, this platform of communicating? There’s a fluidity to it, much like life. When I started, back in 2006 when my daughter was a baby, I didn’t think I’d have anything to say. Then I went through a period of blogging every day. For four years I kept that up (on my old blog)! Crazy! Now I’m back to trying to figure the whole thing out again, lol.
Thank you for sharing your journey. ๐ โค
You are welcome. ๐ Thank you very much for your kind comment. ๐
You are a master blogger! Wow! ๐ I like how you describe blogging as being fluid. It really is, and we do flow together beyond all the space that separates us.
Aww, thank you. ๐ I’m faaaar from master though! Yes, I think blogging is a bit like time travel. We can comment on old posts and connect with that person from that time. ๐ xoxox
Yes – good point. I didnโt think of it that way. ๐
Congratulations on your seven years blogging, Lynette. Love your photos and I so enjoyed this post. Sounds like you are very comfortable place at the moment and looking forward to retirement in the near future. I wish you lots good times and will continue to follow along.
Thank you so much for your congratulations and lovely wishes. ๐ I am in a comfortable place and feel well and happy, even about my age. ๐
Wow, seven years is a great achievement, Lynette. Keep on enjoying life.
Thank you! ๐
Bonne anniversaire! Our shared arcs on WordPress have roughly covered the same time span; it just took us a few years to stumble upon one another and figure out that we were meant to be friends. This is a lovely piece, expressing as it does how the blogging experience is a shifting, changing animal that grows in different ways depending on what you feed it and how you care for it. And if you do it right, just as you have been doing, it is a fine and wonderful thing…
Thank you very much! ๐ Thatโs such a lovely comment, Brian. โค๏ธ
Yes! It certainly did take a while for us to find each other, but we eventually did. ๐
Hi Lynette – you visited my blog today and sent me oodles of likes. I figured I should do the good blogger thing and see what you had cooking. I scrolled down and found this post about your 7th anniversary and how much things had changed but really not.
Love how you talked about worrying about change but in the end it only distracted us from the real change. So profound.
Made me reflect on my almost 9 years of blogging and how I had changed from a total crow focus to more serendipity of what life threw at me I could share. Like today my purple berry eater. That was just pure luck to see that sparrow eating bright berries and hold still for me.
Thanx for visiting and I am going to visit your blog again. Batgirl
Thank you for taking the time for a visit and for your lovely comments. ๐ I like your photos – you are very talented. ๐
Nine years is a long time in blogging life. Congratulations. ๐
Congratulations — not just the sheer passage of 7 years, but the life and evolution you have put into your 7 years. And yes, everything changes. Scary in a way (about whatever it is we think we’d like to last forever) but also magic, because it is that open-endedness that offers us endless possibility and potential. So let’s all keep grabing it, and running with it! (You sure are, hurray for you.)
Thank you so much, Penny. โค๏ธ Yes, nothing stays the same and that makes it so important to value what is, right now.
Congratulations. I’ve Just discovered your blog and checked my own stats to find that I have been posting photos on my photomania blog for 8 years (https://helensphotomania.wordpress.com/) , though, in fairness, I have had some long breaks during that time. Almost committed to another 365 this year…. almost ๐
Thank you! ๐ Congratulations to you as well. ๐