I remember Davy Jones and why I blog

I remember Davy Jones.  Not only do I remember him but I even remember watching "The Monkees" show on Saturday mornings. I never had his poster on my wall (I was a David Cassidy girl) but he was a part of my growing up years.  Does that date me?  I thought it might...

Honestly, I had no intention of writing a post let alone joining the party on, "What do you want your blog to be when it grows up".  After all, I am all grown up.  But after reading some of the inspirational thoughts of some younger bloggers it dawned on me that I share their dreams just from a little different perspective.

So here goes, the top five ways I want to grow with my blog (plus a lot of random pictures)...

1.  To be a destination for friends to stop by for a chat.  One of the first blogs I ever read was Dear Daisy Cottage and the reason I returned every morning with my coffee in hand was because of Kim.  She had the warmest most engaging conversation started and she shared her real, lived in cottage.  It was unique to her personality...it was different from the ultra trendy, magazine worthy homes of some other blogs.  She has since gone on to a beautiful photography blog and I miss my visits at Dear Daisy Cottage terribly.

2.  To inspire you to live a beautiful life no matter what life throws your way.  You might be surprised at what my real life has been and I know I would be surprised if I knew your whole life story.  We all have challenges we need to work through but I am such a firm believer in attitude over circumstances and this little blog is a daily reminder of what is good in my life each time I write a post.  I just need to search out something beautiful to share.  Trust me, sometimes I have to search really hard but I always find something.

3.  To meet new and interesting people living in far off places.  Sounds silly I know, but I do enjoy the friendships I've made by way of my blog.  I have shared some difficult times with my cyber friends via email and felt such love and encouragement in return.  Definitely one of the unexpected surprises of my blogging experience.

4.  To write authentically.  I have always enjoyed writing but blogging has shown me to write from the heart.  Each post reminds me to be true to myself, to express my authentic point of view, to embrace who I am and to not to be someone I am not because readers can always spot a phony.

5.  To share beautiful pictures.  When my children were little I was the one who always cut off the tops of their heads or left half of someone out of the picture and then I started blogging.  I learned to take pictures as part of a story, as a way to enhance, not merely to chronicle.  I learned a little about staging and backgrounds.  Last year I got my first big girl camera and I love it.  I still have so much to learn but am enjoying the process.  I am constantly amazed at the generous spirit of other bloggers and am always inspired to try something new from what they share.

At this point in time, growing my blog does not involve numbers, although I do love my followers and getting comments, or dollars because that isn't where I am in my journey right now although I would encourage anyone, who is willing to give it their all, if that's one of your goals.  Blogging takes time and effort and that is certainly worth value.

For me blogging brings me joy through relationships. 

To touch others and to be touched...to inspire others and to be inspired...to encourage others and to be encouraged, these are my biggest blogging goals and I am loving every minute of it.

xo, Patty