1,000,000

At 7:10 pm EST, Sunday the 9th of June, my blog counter scored my one millionth visit.

One million!

That's a very big number.

That visitor is either from Mountain View, California; Winchester, New Hampshire or Calgary, Alberta. Whoever it was, thanks for tripping the wire and sending the counter spinning. I had expected it to happen today. I've been watching the counter move up steadily over the last week and WHAMO suddenly it happened.

It's an odd accomplishment, I grant you, but it seems important, somehow, to me.

So in celebration I want to list the reasons I'm still writing this blog. Long time readers know that it was meant to be here only for a year. Well, that's not how it turned out. So, here's my list.

1) I still have things I want to say.

2) The act of blogging is more than just writing (although sometimes I remember Truman Capote saying, "That's not writing, that's typing), blogging requires that one think about one's day and one's experiences, it requires reflection.  I think then, that writing this blog has helped to contribute to my own growth as a person.

3) The community of readers here at Rolling Around in My Head is extraordinary. There is a diversity of opinion and that opinion is often strongly stated. I like respectful disagreement and discussion. I like hearing other viewpoints and other perspectives. I have changed my mind several times, I've even changed wording on some of the blogs as a result of the discussion. So blogging is both an introspective growth experience but it's also a communal growth experience. How often do you get that?

4) I am creating a diary of my experiences. While I draw a boundary between what I will write about and what I won't write about - I'm still chronicling my life as a person with a disability who works with people who have disabilities. I like having this as a record. I have never, ever, kept a journal like many I know - blogging has become my journal.

5)Random Reinforcement Schedule ... yep, that' right. Every now and then, maybe once every couple of months, I'll write something, and I can never predict it beforehand, that gets a lot of attention and shares and comments and emails. Something that speaks to the hearts or minds of others. There is nothing like the feeling that what you've said or what you've written really matters. It's so strange after all this time I still can't tell. I'll write something and think that it's one that people will gravitate to and ... not so much. Then I'll write something more quickly and WHAM! It's a powerful thing, for a writer, to get such immediate and such intense reaction to what's been written.

6) Through this blog I have come to understand the length and breadth and depth of the disability community and the communities of allies, family and friends. I had no idea, literally, no idea of how amazing and how powerful this community is until I first started writing "Chewing the Fat" (the original blog title) and, since then, I have come to be a proud member of this on-line community.

7) I'm writing a seventh point because I was at a lecture on memory and we learned that people like lists of 3 or 7 or 10 or 12 ... lists of other sizes, apparently, are vexing to some. I dont' want to be vexing today.

I don't, won't, and can't know who the millionth visitor was to this blog - but thank all of you for your visits here, for the comments you leave, and for the impact you have had on my life!