100th Blog Post

Well it took me about seven years but I made it to my 100th blog post.  I'm not sure how I have stuck with it so long but it has been more rewarding than I thought it might be when I started.  For the sake of looking back feel free to visit my most notable posts:

First Post (Poorly written with comments I wish I could take back)
Most Visited (17,000 + views)
Least Visited (1 view but a personal favorite)
Most Controversial (Lost some Facebook friends over this one)
My Favorite

If you took the time to look through any of these you can definitely see that this is an evolving endeavor for me.  Blogging is, for me, the exchanging of ideas.  The internet allows me to publish ideas and for others to engage them whether they agree or not.  I actually first was turned on to blogging in 1994.

That last sentence may sound a little weird.  The history of blogging can be traced back a ways but blogging as we know it took off in 2001 or so.  As I said, I am a believer in the exchange of ideas.  The first time I had that light bulb moment was in high school.  My friend's dad, Harry O, wrote a column in a small paper called the Weekly Review.  I couldn't wait to pick a new issue and read what he wrote.  We were not affiliated with the same political party and I often did not always completely  understand the issues he was writing about.  But, by reading his column I wanted to learn more about what was going on in our community.  He was a great writer and very engaging.  That's how blogging was done in those days, in print.  Not everyone had access to be a published columnist back then but now we do.

The internet and social media provides the ability to not just make us published authors, but also to read from a diverse group of authors.  I would not consider myself an author mostly because I am a terrible writer, but I can share ideas and engage other people.  My reach has not just been in my local community but across the nation.  Yes, little ole me has engaged people from a far off lands that I will never meet.  They were drawn to the ideas I've shared because we share a common profession and value set.  How awesome is that to know you can have that type of reach?

So what are you waiting on?  It is true that a lot of people will not read what you write.  It is true that people will not always agree with your perspective.  Don't let that hold you back from sharing ideas.  Someone can benefit from what you write and you may just feel liberated for writing it.  Take the leap and start a blog.  You just might make it to 100 and beyond.