3000/8

I've had a few days to prepare for toady's post. I wanted to write something very special. But, as always, life got in the way. On Sunday, after feeling well all day, I had symptoms kind of like my allergies were acting up. But, and hour later, WHAM, I was sick. I still am very ill, cough, cold, sore throat, runny eyes - all of it. So, I'm really out of commission. And, of course, it's hard to be inspired when you are sick, sitting on your chair, in your housecoat, covered in blankets, sipping tea.

So.

No inspiration.

But here I am at a blog milestone. This post, this very post you are reading, is my 3000th post. Three. Thousand. Posts. On October 8th of this year, the blog celebrated, quietly and without fanfare, it's 8th anniversary. I let that pass because I saw I was drawing close to the 3000 post mark.

In these 8 years and 3000 posts Rolling Around in My Head has gone through many ups and downs, the biggest change being the name of the blog which was, originally, Chewing the Fat. The ups and downs have been both readership and number of comments. Right now I'm at the lowest average readership level that I've ever been at and the comments, while still wonderful, are at the lowest ebb. Several blogs this year have gone without comment, which is a first in 8 years.

Even with these new lows in readership and comments, I still feel that the blog serves a function. I need to in order to continue to write, almost daily, after all these years. Whenever I'm at a conference or a presentation I always meet a blog reader and we always, that's every time, have a nice conversation about the blog and about what it has meant to me and what it has meant to that reader.

So.

I know it matters.

The changes haven't just been in readership and comments, they have been in me as well. I used to feel absolutely compelled to write daily, even if I didn't have much to say, or anything much new to talk about. Now, I have given myself a day off or two when that happens, I decided I didn't want this blog or our relationship as writer and reader to become burdensome. And, it isn't. I still learn and am challenged by the comments, both positive and negative. I have changed how I've thought about things because of what's said in the comments. Further, I speak about things differently because I've been called on how I've written something. So, I'm still growing because of this.

To those who are still around, thank you.

To those who comment, thank you very much.

I'm still enjoying, all these years later, all these posts later (3000!) the community of people who come here regularly, or just when they can. I am still writing this because you are still reading this ...

Wow.

8 years.

3000 posts.

Not what I thought would happen when I first sat down and created this blog.

But I'm glad I did.

I hope you still are too,.