Saturday, April 22, 2017

A New Wrinkle: 2 Year Blogiversary


A New Wrinkle
Two Year Blogiversary 

Keeping an Eye on my Readers, 22 April 2017


My mother used to tell me that she didn't get any wrinkles until she turned 70. Of course, that wasn't really true because we all get wrinkles before that. Exposure to sun, stress and smoking gives everyone wrinkles. As I recall, she had cataract surgery around then and because of that she could see more clearly, so she could see her face better.  She was a sun lover and she did smoke. She thought that I should do those things too because it was thought smoking could dull your appetite so you wouldn't gain unsightly fat and being a sun lover gave you a lovely tan and she thought that made her look younger. As a artist, it was all about how everything looked and since I was her creation, she should have influence over me and how I looked. 

Coincidentally, I have a new wrinkle near my eye. It hurts and I am hoping it is caused by the excessive pollen that I am allergic to. I'm keeping an eye on it by applying dry eye tears and eye cream. I will be 70 in December. 

The Wrinkle Age.

Also this week, my friend who is a recent widow came to visit. She doing OK but she is experiencing the stress of being alone. She will throw herself into her work. She is ten years younger than I am and she mentioned my age twice. It's the shock of grief. 

Genealogists are talking about how blogging is over. It's NOT. It is just that it takes a lot of time to do research, make blog posts interesting and find the time to write. I admit that this got under my skin. Maybe that is what's causing my wrinkle?

I am planning to write more this year; not less. Maybe my readers won't see it all because some of the work I do is not exciting enough to publish but that doesn't mean I'm not doing it.

When I started this blog, I had been writing my other two blogs for many years. I have "stick-to-it-iveness", says Family Tree Magazine. The day I started this blog, I did so to separate my genealogy research from my gravestone work. I am not going to tell you how many hits I have because that is not my motivation to continue writing. Posting my blog posts to Facebook and Twitter is part of my job and increases my traffic because not all blog post are read via RSS in a aggregate blog reader like Feedly.

I write because I have something to say, something to share, something to keep me connected to life.  

I celebrate this blogiversary even more because of my planning method and my journaling, which is working for me. I'm keeping an eye on what people say but I am not focusing on the wrinkles.

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