Thoughts, Changes, Progression.

I've been thinking a lot about my blog lately. Mostly, about my lack of a blog. When I first began writing a blog, I posted regularly. Sometimes it waxed and waned, but invariably a post went up at some point. That's changed in the last year. A heck of a lot has changed in the last year.

Let's look at a little listy thing here:

Mrs. H died
Castalia was sold
I got a new job
My horse died
One of my cats died
I got Shingles
I got a bunch of rejections
My Mom got diagnosed with breast cancer
I got Shingles again
One of my sister's horses died

And not to leave things totally negative and dramatic-weepy:

I met my AWESOME new coworker, 'sister wife' and partner in crime, Valerie
I met Valerie's AWESOME husband, my new 'pseudo-hubby' and all around good guy, Cody
I got over Shingles
I got some AMAZING feedback along with the rejections
MY CRITIQUE PARTNER CHRISTI GOT PUBLISHED
My Mom is undergoing chemo/treatment and *so far* things are looking GREAT and her cancer is fleeing at top speed
I've written so much, and learned so much more, and I'm still writing and learning

So, yeah, things have changed. Some for good, some for bad, but mostly just for different. And different isn't always easy. So my blogging has fallen by the wayside. Triaged nearly into oblivion because everything somehow became more important than jotting down posts for the blog. I've been thinking about it, about how it barely exists, and that maybe I should just put it down altogether. Then I was checking other blogs in my feed (it's easier to keep up with reading others' blogs, than it is to write on mine) and happened across Kristin Cashore's blog.

I utterly UTTERLY adore Kristin. She is an old soul, a deep thinker, someone who sees so much more than most people and perceives much more as well. I love her views, and how she shares her experiences. In short, she is someone I would love to know better. And some day, maybe I'll get the chance to. Way back, at the beginning, her blog was open to comments, but she came to a point at the beginning of 2010 when she decided to close her blog to comments. I miss the opportunity for interacting with someone I greatly admire, yet I understand the simplification of things for Kristin.

By closing her blog to comments, she made her blog more of an outlet for herself, and less of a podium behind which she had to stand, if that makes sense. Now, she's able to present ideas, share adventures, provoke thoughts on subjects that are important to her, but she's able to do so in the form of a written art installation. We experience her posts, but must digest them ourselves. She gives them to us, sets them free into the world and then is, herself, free of them, and is safe from hateful or argumentative comments. This is an important thing, in a world where there are no longer defined lines between oneself, and the belief that everyone has a right to have an opinion about the things that makes oneself their own. Sometimes artists (writers are also artists) need to be able to share pieces of themselves without being expected to somehow justify and explain those pieces of their shared self.

Now, I am no Kristin Cashore, and I don't have anywhere near the following Kristin does, but I find myself attracted to her policy of blog posting with closed comments. I've decided that I'm going to give it a try, simply to alleviate some of the stress that comes with the feeling that I must post something 'interesting' in order to post anything at all. I've got an active Facebook page, and I post all of my blogger stuff there as well, so there's still an option for anyone who wants to comment, to do so. Mostly, this is for me, to see if I'll find it easier to post on a more regular basis, if I know I'm able to just post tiny, interesting tidbits, etc. rather than long engaging posts.

For any of you who actually read my posts, I thank you for your continued support, and I promise I'll still be trolling everyone else's blogs! Take care, everyone!