Fourteen months ago I decided to start a blog. The initial catalyst was a desire to document my journey through 365 days of sweat in 2013.
I could have also done that with paper and pen, and kept it totally personal. In publishing my words I made my story public, which added a layer of governance.
Type-A me knew that failing on my own would be a tough pill to swallow, but failing in front of others was not an option. So really, dear readers, I used you to hold me accountable. And I’ll bet you never even knew it!
Little did I know, 14 months ago, that my words would reach so many of you. More than I ever imagined or dreamed possible.
In the beginning I thought the most important measure was the total number of followers.
A handful of friends were gracious enough to subscribe, and slowly (very slowly…) that small number grew, until it was in the hundreds. And then it hit me that many eyes were potentially reading my words.
Potentially being the operative word.
I came to realize that while some blogs had thousands of followers, readers didn’t seem to be engaged, as evidenced by very few comments.
And even though my numbers weren’t crazy high, the level of animated conversation, in the form of reader comments, told me that you were engaged and supportive!
So THANK YOU!!!
That you choose to read my often inane, sometimes wildly inappropriate and usually profanity-laced words is so humbling.
So, once again, THANK YOU.
You have generated over 4,000 comments in 14 months. You have visited this silly blog nearly 25,000 times.
WHAT?
25,000 views??
Mind = Blown
But wait…there’s more!
You came from all over the world! Sure, the ginormous bulk of you visited from North America [and by ginormous bulk I refer to the quantity of views, not the girth of the North American people] but just look at some of these amazing and exotic locales you live in!
Wowza! No, seriously??!!
There are too many of you to thank by name. All my UK peeps know who you are and that I adore you! Same goes for the Aussies!
At the risk of sounding all cloyingly Taylor Swift’ish circa every award acceptance speech she has ever delivered…
….You guys!!! I am blown away by your support!
And I love you very much.
All I need in this life is friends like you.
Well, I need the friends, the food and the clothes, the car, the house with the pool… 😉
Thank you for continuing to support my meandering journey. Thank you for your words of encouragement. Thank you for sharing your stories with me.
You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you.
~Ray Bradbury
Keep moving,
xoxo nancy
Well done, Nancy, and it seems like you’re having fun, which, I think is the whole point, regardless of how many views/followers a blog has.
Although, I must confess I was hugely delighted last week when I finally managed to get a follower in Greenland. That huge white blob on my world map had been bothering me. Now it’s a pleasant shade of yellow. YES!!! LOL, how sad am I?!
Keep it up 🙂
How very cool!! And not sad at all! When I got the Kazakhstan follower I nearly pee’d myself with joy! 🙂
The Åland Islands had me scratching my head…!
Add that to the list of countries I’ve never heard of. 🙂 o
I’ve even got a hit from China, which is curious, as WP is blocked there.
Among my most exotic ones are: Bhutan, Congo, Afghanistan, Djibouti, Micronesia, Angola, Saint Lucia, Fiji, Palestine, Uzbekistan, Monaco.
The map’s filling up 🙂
I got a hit from China too, and wondered how that was possible!!
p.s. Djibouti is my absolute favourite country ever, since I discovered it during the parade of nations at the London 2012 opening ceremonies. Just saying it out loud makes me smile. DJIBOUTI!
Aw, we are so easily pleased, aren’t we?! 😉
Guilty.
Latka was my favorite character from Taxi…beside Jim
I have to admit, now I’m feeling a bit used. 😉
It didn’t happen unless you got flicked by flying sweat. Plausible deniability. 😉
Glad I missed the flying sweat. BTW…You can clean up the mess I left on your blog. I thought I copied Jim’s clip but somehow Latka showed up when I hit reply. Taxi was such a great show. Thanks for the trip down memory lane. A nice diversion from work…which I better get back to.
You can never have too much Latka in your life. 🙂
p.s. Did you ever happen to catch Andy Kaufman (as Latka) but pre-Latka/Taxi as a contestant on The Dating Game?
That maybe the funniest thing I’ve ever seen in my life.
No I did’t. I will have to see if it is on YouTube and watch it. At times I wish I could be Latka. Maybe I would get into less trouble. 😀
For your viewing pleasure:
That is too funny. He plays his character so well.
Totally!
Random fun fact. I recall watching this at first airing, in the 70’s. It was after school. My mom was making dinner and heard me dying of laughter. She came in to see what was so funny, ended up in tears herself! 🙂
So you got me on a Andy Kaufman hunt at lunch and I came across his appearance on Letterman:
What is funny about this is that Andy was never married but he got his audience to believe he was serious.
And to offer him money. 🙂
Classic Patrick, classic!
We love your stuff! The proof is in the pudding you just described. Yum. Pudding…
Very cool that Borat stopped by. 😉
Pudding? What kind?? 🙂
Chocolate, of course. 😉
I love you.
🙂
Man! 25k views or a year plus of dedicated sweat? On top of that, being a great support to bloggers and fitness folk alike. I know I sure have appreciated your support. You’re something. Glad to be part of your tribe. John
And I’m so honoured to be part of yours John. You are a gem!
I have to offer an explanation. To your success. It’s simple. YOU are very human and very engaging. And the humor doesn’t hurt 🙂 Reader experience: happiness all over 😉
I hope you can somehow see my giant smile beaming at you! Thank you for these lovely words Tiny!
I see it 🙂
The feeling is entirely mutual! And 25000 views!!? That is amazing!! Xx
24 and change; i rounded up. 🙂 but well over 4,000 comments; I rounded down. 🙂
Thank you for your awesome support lovely!
😀 x
congratulations! That is so very awesome!
You guys are so very awesome Kate!
The girl done good!
Thanks to amazing people like you Carol!
Wow, look at the number you get from Australia! Not even our prime minister is that popular. Congrats madam!
Bahahaha! Your poor PM!!
The thanks go to you Nancy for creating such a great environment for an engaged community!
Lisa, you have been around since pretty early on…thank you so much! One day I will make it back to the PNW and I will buy you a beverage. Of the alcoholic variety.
It’s a date. 😉
I keep cursing the fact that I didn’t know you during those many, many years I found myself traveling to the mothership in Seattle with frequency. 😦
That would have been so fun, it figures that we didn’t meet until after everything changed. 😦
Then again, I probably would have been far less sociable (and fun) during the stress-ball phase!
Good point!
There’s a reason you have so many visits and comments …. you and your blog are great!! I’m looking forward to a LOT more 🙂
Congratulations! / Félicitations / Congratulazioni! / Gefeliciteerd! / Herzliche Glückwünsche!
I’m so glad to have found you too Joanne! Your writing is deeply engaging. You may even motivate me to invest in a creative writing class!
thank you for the nice compliment!
I love school and the classroom environment. I’ve learned so much with the wonderful group I’ve shared this winter with in this course. I’m sure we are all going to miss each other when this course ends soon.
How long is the course Joanne? And where are you taking it?
The course was in Personal Narrative at U of T and 10 weeks long.
There are 2 certificate programs available at the School of Continuing Studies – Creative Writing – Non Fiction and Creative Writing – Freelance. The Personal Narrative was part of the non fiction program but I’m going to be switching to freelance which offers more of what I’m interested in.
Thanks for the info Joanne. I think I’d like to explore the Creative Writing – Freelance too. Now to find the time…
So glad to have added LV to your list of weird countries!! 🙂 Also totally agree with you on the followers stuff – I don’t have that many really but the comments on each post keep people coming back! I’d rather have a few hundred followers who read and comment regularly, than thousands of anonymous names!
I absolutely love your blog and the concept behind it – I think it was Mike Major who hooked us up in the beginning? So glad he did before falling off the face of the earth! 🙂
Mike Major WISHES he had hooked us up. Poor bastard would have years if spank bank material if he had successfully hooked us up. 😉
Seriously though, I totally agree with you. It’s the conversations, the connections, that make this blogging stuff so rewarding. I’m so glad we found each other. (Okay, it was through Mike!) if I ever make it to Latvia I am SO looking you up.
And if I ever make it to Toronto or LV (the other one) again, I’ll so do the same!
Brilliant!
Working on a Major rant at the moment 😉
I cannot wait!!
Awww! This is awesome, such a lovefest. Love the shoutout to Linda– that’s so funny, I always think the same thing when I see Latvia on my stats!
Linda singlehandedly made Latvia cool.
Hahaha I can get behind that statement.
Even with her Dumb and Dumber bangs.*
*see her second to last post. 😉
Oh I need to catch up! This sounds good. I can already picture it…
She hasn’t posted pics. Maybe if we both ask her really nicely…
Yay you – I love it! Congratulations on 14 awesome months! I’m looking forward to reading the next 14 : )
And I can’t wait to be entertained by you! Me love you long time Molly.
Hahaha – love you long time!
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Anytime. You’re awesome! And so inspiring. Impossible not to follow you. X
Right back at ‘ya, Rach!
I’m a big fan.
I’m late…no connections at the river which is awesome except that I missed this great post! 25k? wow!!! We all love you…and I love your posts because they ARE engaging, makes us all feel like we’re just hanging out with you 😉
I love hanging out with you too Kerry! Hope the weekend away was awesome!
By posting about your journey, you are also giving others encouragement! And it shows in your comments and views and the flags on the photo. I’m there! I see our flag! LOL I know I missed so many of your wonderful posts already. My apologies. Had I known getting self hosted would cause so much trouble I would have stayed with wp. UGH!
Congrats and looking forward to reading more of your posts!
Yes, I see you there, waving at me from the Philippines! 🙂
I hope all your migration issues are behind you now! You’ll have to share if it was all worth it once you come up for air!
I see one problem after another! But I am learning a lot! 🙂 Will tell you guys about it soon.