A Small Town Girl Finds Her Place in the Universe

2013

This post was first published on October 21, 2013. Last summer, my blog had been read 100,000 times. In the last nine months, that number jumped to 150,000. That is just so cool, and I am blown away by the growing number of readers.

A more recent photo of me, with my biggest fan. 2016

I'm just a small-town girl, living out her dreams as a retired teacher in the American midwest. My goals are minimalist in nature, trying to get the most out of each moment as it comes. My dreams do not include BIGGER and MORE. We live in a modest, comfortable home in a safe neighborhood, and I would not have it any other way.  

Having an entire day stretch before me with no commitments or obligations seems like such a gift. I love my "retired routine," and that includes my daily writing. 

This week it hit me that I have a growing audience. There have been a couple of circumstances that have allowed my blog to reach people from many parts of our beautiful world. I have a friend on Facebook who is an international celebrity who took the time to share my blog. I will be forever grateful to her for that gesture. High school friends from across the country have reconnected through Facebook. And I have made friends on the new social network of Happier.com. 2017 Update: Since moving to Illinois, I have met so many wonderful people in the suburbs of Chicago, and at the Bristol Renaissance Faire in Wisconsin. I would like to thank each of you for taking the time to read my blog.

When I first started blogging this summer (2013), I had a following of a dozen family members and friends. I was touched that they bothered to read it at all. Over the next couple of months, more friends began to read Randomocity. And then, just lately, more and more people seem to be checking it out. To say I feel humbled and grateful for this is such an understatement.

The internet has brought the global world into my home, and faraway friends into my heart. I find myself cheering on a dear friend in Japan battling cancer. Sweet friends have reunited as the internet has fueled our friendships. I've been brushing up on my French with a couple of college students. There have been eye-opening online conversations about vegemite and honeyeaters with friends in Australia. I am discovering that Canadians celebrate their own Thanksgiving before we enjoy ours in America. Every day, my eyes feast on beautiful pictures posted by friends from as far away as Massachusetts, across the Atlantic Ocean in the United Kingdom and Russia, and the Pacific Ocean in Malaysia. 

Through the wonder of the worldwide web, I am making connections with people from all walks of life, from all over the world. I feel so blessed with each new friendship, and with each reconnection with those from my past. 

This weekend, I was so humbled when I looked at the statistics about my blog. I realize that in the larger scheme of things, my blog is very small. My audience consists of a small readership compared to those who have millions of followers, but it is slowly growing.

Every time someone takes the time to tell me, either in person at the grocery store, or on the internet on Facebook, Happier, or on my blog, that they can relate to what I write, I am deeply touched. Writing makes me so happy. Writing for a supportive and receptive audience makes me even happier. 

So, dear friends, old and new, thank you for stopping by. Thank you for taking the time to post a quick comment. Thank you for being a part of my world. I am so grateful for each and every one of you.

P.S.  May I ask a favor?  Would you mind leaving a comment today that indicates where you live? You don't have to get too specific, but I would love to attach some names and faces to these faraway places. You would honor me with your comments. I know it's a hassle, so just know that your reading this is honor enough. Thank you so very much.

Finding a Focus for Writing

My husband approached me about a concern he has about my writing a few weeks ago.  "Now that you've been blogging for awhile, it's time for you to find a focus for your writing."  I just smiled. He's very good at knowing what other people need to do to improve their lives.  He simply observes, and when he can't take it any longer, he shares his findings with the objects of his observations.  "You need to find your niche."

"I have found my niche.  My focus is memoir.  I write down my life experiences, and my reflections on what I'm learning from them."

"But that will never sell!" he moaned.

You see, not being a writer, my husband has the misguided notion that the result of taking time to write every single day will result in a monumental epic series, complete with royalties and movie rights, like J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter.  I haven't quite figured out how to break the bad news to him that we are probably never going to own a castle in Europe.

My writing is for me.  I write to amuse myself, to teach myself, and to enlighten myself.  That anyone else likes it is simply a delightful surprise.  That anyone else bothers to read it pleases me greatly.  

I am obsessed with writing.  Even while we are doing other things:  visiting friends, going out to dinner, making juice, hiking, shooting guns, riding four-wheelers, going on vacation, the whole time I am imagining our activities from varied perspectives, noticing details, so that later, I can write about them.  Even when I don't feel like writing, like this morning, I sit down and write.

Will I ever step outside of my comfort zone and write fiction?  Maybe I will take a writing class to see how that is done.  It baffles me, this writing things that aren't true and making them believable. The closest I've ever gotten to the fictional process is writing about my own life in the third person. That was fun, but I was able to draw from my life experiences for the details.  I can't imagine conjuring up every single character and plot twist out of my head.

In the meantime, my routine is very comforting for me.  I wake up early, get my brew going, grab an ice pack for my back, settle down with my laptop, and start to write.  I spend a couple of hours first thing every morning, pondering and writing.  Throughout the day, I revisit pieces I've started, and I edit the heck out of all of it:  published and unpublished.  

I am so grateful to see the stats on my blog.  My readership is growing.  I know I shouldn't be attached to the numbers, but they intrigue me.  I am so glad to see that my writing appeals to more than just my parents, and my two friends who've encouraged me to write.  

You see, deep down, my secret hope is to one day publish.  Maybe a magazine article, maybe a softcover edition of my memoir. Probably NOT an epic novel.  So, secretly, this writer hopes she will appeal to an audience broader than a readership of one:  herself.  I have no grand notions of being a best-selling author, but I do enjoy it when I hear from friends that my writing resonates with them, or that they enjoyed a particular piece.

Thanks for stopping by.  Thanks for reading Randomocity.  I don't have anything on the market at the moment, but I am thoroughly enjoying blogging each morning.  One day, maybe some day, I'll submit my writing for publication, but for now, I'm just going to enjoy the process.  "Trust the journey."  I am right where I need to be for now.  And that is good enough for me.

What's in a Name?

When I turned the age corner into my fifties, and decided to start a blog, I thought that Nifty Fifties had a catchy ring to it and decided to take on that name for said blog.  Try Googling Nifty Fifties.  Yeah, apparently there are many of us who think that's a cool way to go with a blog title.  There are many variations on the theme, but since I'm not really pushing THE FIFTIES decade, or supplements for the silver-haired crowd, or even anything with an AARP theme, I decided to re-think my choice.

I love to write.  I have always been a writer.  I write lists, notes, letters, emails, journals, poetry, haiku (I was a fifth grade teacher; perhaps I should clarify SOME of my writing wasn't stellar!).  I hike and bike and take amateur pictures with a decent camera.  I just retired from a 30 year teaching career. My hobby is adapting favorite recipes to make them healthier.  My life is full of a bit of this and a bit of that. 

This time I decided to get some advice from some "old souls" in my circle of friends; those younger than I whose opinion I respect.  We tossed around ideas...The Recipe Whisperer.  The Happy Hiker.  After the Last Roll Call.  Granola Girl.  Hikes and Bikes.  The Happiness Habit.  Random Thoughts and Moments.  Random Rants, Writings and Recipes. 

The problem is that I know me; it will not serve me well to get too focused.  I'm not a general dispenser of knowledge.  Teaching is what I DID.  I cook and bake, but not regularly.  I'm not going to tell people where I hike because I like the path less-traveled. (RUDE, I know.)  I try to be Pollyanna-like, but I have MY days, too.  The central theme that kept popping up was based on the word RANDOM.  And I tend to go through life at turbo speed, although I'm trying so hard to change that, and speed made me think of velocity, and the next thing you know, I've morphed my own word that kind of rhymes with Travelocity, if you accent the third syllable:  RANDOMOCITY!!!

Sigh.  I am happy.  I feel content.  Today I renamed my blog Randomocity.  And there you have it.  That name suits me better for who I am and what I do.  Whether I am proud of that or not remains to be seen.