At home, examining the light. A description that fits for the last year.
The Pauser marked its one year anniversary just a few days ago, and I feel like celebrating! Here are the big lessons I’ve learned this year:
- Digital, schmidgital! People make social media interesting. I have enjoyed the personal connections I’ve made more than any other aspect of blogging. While my virtual relationships are not the same as those real-world, on-the-ground ones, the generosity, kindness, and encouragement you all have shown me has helped me grow, and to heal hurts that I hadn’t even been aware of. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
- Starting a blog was not that hard. I still don’t have the “bells and whistles,” skills my children have, but I can drive the boat. Blogging is a testament to life being doable. In year two, it’s time to learn at least one bell/whistle.
- Blogging is a measuring tool. When I look back at some of my early writing, I can envision ways to make the writing more effective than it was then. I also look back at some of the writing I did about my husband’s journey with prostate cancer and I think about the way the writing helped me to achieve some emotional closure. Because I flung my words out into the universe, they became a kind of commitment to my soul, something I had to go back to when the downs came calling. Those words, once spooled out, became a permanent record of all I have felt, all I have achieved, all I have hoped.
- I’ve been fairly consistent with my posting, but I have learned that sometimes I just can’t keep up. I’ve also learned not to worry about it. The earth won’t stop spinning on its axis if I go a couple of weeks without a post.
Year One STATISTICS
Blog Posts: 86
Blog Views: 3027
Total Comments: 293 (Half of these are mine, because I always reply to comments. I’m Southern.)
Followers: 117
Top Three Posts:
# 2 Daily Discomfort: Love and Time
# 1 Daily Discomfort: Getting A Pedicure
The post with the most comments:
DD: Mozart and the Beautiful Tears
Up Next:
My editorial calendar for the year: It will probably change, but at least I’ve got a plan.
For year 2, I’ve changed the editorial calendar a bit.
Each week I’ll write a feature article based on a monthly theme. I’ll also write once a week from a prompt I generate in a new way each month. Each month, I’ll write an article for the paus(ed) category based on how to use that prompt generation in the classroom.
In September, I’m writing about the New Guard. You know, my kids and their kids. I have just learned from NPR that I am of the Old Guard. I (and apparently many of you) am classified as the Old Guard because I am are still using Twitter.
I’ll also write from a series of prompts generated by my Personal Universal Desk. It’s a cool tool. I’ll write about how it works so you can use it too if you want. I’ll also write about how to use the PUD(makes me feel good just to put it into writing) in your classroom.
