What a year, 2024

I have just started looking back over the last year and seeing how I have been able to accomplish what I have done. Something that I am very proud about this year is I was able to get a blog written each week, which at first, I didn’t think I was going to be able to achieve. It does take some effort to ensure that there is a blog available each week because sometimes it is a challenge to figure out something to write about. What I have found that works for me is to try and work ahead on the blogs so that I do have things scheduled to post and then if a current topic comes up, I can just rearrange the blogs that I have scheduled.

This year, my writing has been very important to me, and I hope to be able to continue to work on getting more things written. I have a lot of ideas for blogs and even other writing, so I just need to go into the new year knowing that I am going to continue to write my blogs and besides that I will see where my writing takes me.

As I sit here and think through what has happened during this year, I can say that this year was a little harder than I wanted, but I was able to get through it. This year, I was fortunate to be able to see my mom reach the age of 99, but we lost her just 9 days later. It has been a journey that has been a challenge at some times, but then I remember how she looked at life, and she always wanted us to do what makes us happy.

I hope everyone has had good holiday season if you do celebrate, and I look forward to continuing to get more blogs written in 2025.

Blogging and Journaling and why I do both

 People have asked me why I do both journaling and blogging when I could just do one or the other.  I can easily say that blogging gives me one output, while my journaling is something that I do just for me.

Blogging

I am someone that has more than one blog, and I am very happy to have separate ones for the separate parts of me. 

1.  Craftkitten

2.  DLK Life How I See It

3.  DLKsCrafts

Now each of these blogs are entirely different in nature as they are for difference audiences.  Now, to talk a bit about each of these, so you can understand why they are so separate.

Craftkitten – this blog is where I will post weekly updates about what crafts that I have been working on during that past week.  This blog doesn’t show a lot of what is going on in my life outside the crafting that I do.

DLK Life How I See It – if you are reading this post, you know what this blog is about.  This blog is where I can write about the various things that I am seeing in the world and also some other thoughts and feelings that bounce into my head.  It is something that I enjoy doing and where I can write about the various challenges that a lot of people deal with.

DLKsCrafts – this blog is more about my ETSY shop and how to run a shop like I do.  It is where I will give you some pointers, as I know that it is sometimes a challenge to start to set up an on-line shop.

Journaling

To explain a little about my journaling, I have to admit that it is something that isn’t planned to be shared with anyone else.  I write each day and have been doing that for a number of years.  I have been writing every day since December 26, 2013, so yes, I have been writing a lot since then.  The one thing that I can say is that the amount that I write each day depends on the time that I have to write and what I am feeling that day.

I have always been someone that enjoyed sitting and writing, and that is why I started to journal on a more regular basis.  I started out just writing when I felt that I had something to write about, and then it slowly turned into something that I do each day.  I now write electronic journals, while before they were all handwritten and something that I can still look at and laugh at sometimes.  I have written about a lot of the challenges that I have faced, and it has made it a lot easier to handle. For me my journal is what is going on around me and things that I have done each day, so it is more like a diary and I enjoy doing it.

For me, journaling and blogging are two separate things that I enjoy doing, and I will keep doing.   I may not always get a lot of blog posts written, but I continue to write each day.  If writing is something that you enjoy doing, I would recommend that you start to journal for yourself.  It doesn’t need to be fancy at all if you don’t want it to be.  It is something that you are doing for myself and through your writing you will find out a bit more about things that you have dealt with, and now you have got through them.

 

 

 

Blogs -- Following versus Followers

Recently I was reading a blog and the person says Hi to their 4 followers and I know that I read the blog all the time but have not identified myself as a follower. So yes I am following the blog through an RSS reader but haven't click the follower icon on the system to let the individual know that I read their blog.  I use "Newsblur" as my RSS reader and my husband users “old reader” for his.

What I decided to do is look at my other blog, Craftkitten, to see how many followers I have versus people that are following me. I have 10 individuals that have clicked on the follower icon on blogspot but I know that most of these individuals rarely, if ever, visit my blog. Now I looked at a stats counter that I have and noticed that I have a lot of individuals that regularly visit my blog to see what I am up to.

Yes, the individuals that regularly visit my blog are more the true followers than most of the individuals that are showing on the page. I have some people that come to my site on almost a daily basis to see if there are new posts, some check in about once a week and others follow me through an RSS reader and I can see that as well.

The other advantage of using a stats counter is that you can see how the person found your blog. I know that one of my blogs I wrote about four years ago still gets found and read. Through my stats counter I can also see if I was found through someone else linking to my blog.

So it is best not to think that only individuals that have clicked on an icon are your followers, you may have a lot of other individuals reading you. I am happy to see even one person read my blog and I thank everyone who does. Maybe you are a follower or you are following me, but I do appreciate it and I also appreciate the individuals that maybe only come to my blog once.

Following Other People's Blogs

I am one of those that enjoys reading a variety of different blogs. In my blog list I have some craft sites, IT sites, general thinking sites and even some writing sites. It is a lot of fun to see how often people post on the various blogs. Some individuals post on an almost daily basis and others seem to post whenever.

For me, what is interesting is those that start a blog and on their first post they state how often they are going to post. I think the best thing is before you can state how often you are going to post is actually get into a routine of posting first. Once your routine is established, then you might think about posting something about when people can expect posts. For me, I know that I have set a goal of posting around 4 times a month, but sometimes all my posts are near the end of the month and other times the posts are spaced out. It all depends on what time I have for writing the posts and when ideas for the posts come to me.

For me, reading other individuals blogs helps inspire me to write my own blog more often, and it is also a great way to see different writing styles. Some blogs always have pictures attached, and other blogs never have a picture attached. I know that this blog doesn't normally have pictures, but when I find that the blog is enhanced by a picture, I will include one.

A blog is a great communication device, and for me, it is also a means of keeping track of my thoughts and making them easily accessible to even me. I know I have looked up something I have written on a blog, and it has helped me explain something to someone else. My blogs are my way of expressing my thoughts to others.

Off to read a couple more blogs today.