So. This blog. I really didn't have a plan for this blog. I mean, this time one year ago I was kind of sitting on my bed messing around on blogger thinking it'd take me another hour before I was satisfied and then I could go to bed. But then, of course, I stayed up for another 5 hours tweaking the smallest things. I honestly couldn't make myself stop. It was like, I could fix it, so I would until I literally couldn't keep my eyes open anymore.
But, honestly, how I reached the decision to blog is much less important than what it's done for me. Before I made my blog, I thought I was happy. I had one more round of finals before I graduated and then I'd be free of college and some of the people there who really made my life difficult. I had a trip to London planned. Things seemed really good. And then I launched my blog and it's like a switch flipped or something. I honestly felt better. Freer. More honest about who I am and what I love.
Oh, and that was just the instant gratification. The rest came when my friends who I knew from school or wherever else started coming up to me and being like, "You like YA? I like YA! I just never tell people that!" And that's when I started getting sad I was leaving because it turned out there were all these people there who I could have been having all these conversations with but none of us asked the right questions. (Which is another lesson in itself, of course.)
So then I was sad about leaving but I was happy also, because my blog opened so many hidden doors for me. London, BEA, that little trip to Amsterdam, my job and so many more things would have been crazy lame or might never have even happened without so many people are now probably reading these words - people I never would have met if not for Twitter and this here little blog with the funny title I'm not even sure I like most days but am too lazy to change.
What I'm trying to say, I think, is that I'm really thankful for that night one year ago when I sat down and decided I was going to do this. I'm thankful that started asking myself more of those right questions - the "What's going to make me happy?" question instead of just telling myself, "Once this unhappy thing is over you'll figure it out." (Which clearly allowed me to put off the big decisions.) And I'm thankful that this book blogging community was just here and willing to welcome me into it. I mean, nothing's better than instantly having something in common with someone else, am I right?
So. Now that I've taken up taken up all of your time with this post about the people I like and other general, emotional things about me, I'd like to take a second and Thank YOU. Maybe you're one of those bloggers I adore and talk to daily/weekly/monthly. Maybe you're an author I admire. Maybe you're a friend of mine from before blogging - one of those real life friends who reads this, whether I know it or not (because apparently some of you subscribe but don't tell me - YOU SHOULD TELL ME SO I CAN LOVE YOU PROPERLY). Or maybe you're a stranger who I might still get to know. But, whoever you are, you're part of the reason I do this and part of the reason I'm that much happier than I was just over a year ago.
So, the takeaway here is, you should know I think you're the bees knees even if we never, ever speak. I could never be more grateful if I tried.
