8 Years? Whaaat?

8 Years? Whaaat?

I’m feeling nostalgic, as I often do on anniversaries. I can hardly believe that eight years have passed since that evening in the fall of 2010 when I sat at my computer, my social media coach Bryan sitting beside me and my daughter and son on the screen, both away at university but still there to support me in this new venture. I was going to start a blog.

We were struggling to come up with a name for my blog. All the good ones seemed to be taken :o But we brainstormed together in a forum that didn’t exist eight years earlier – video conferencing via Skype. I didn’t know it then, but my timing was impeccable; I would be entering the Blogosphere as it was approaching its heyday, a time when a “blog” was no longer regarded as merely an online journal but was becoming a popular forum for people all over the world to share ideas. I had no idea how much fun I was about to have.

Back to naming the blog. We brainstormed, searched, laughed, and rejected a lot of ideas. Finally, Tasha said, “Read again the email you wrote to your contact list.” I did. I had written:

” …It would be a place to take your morning coffee or tea and sit before rushing into your day; a place where you pause in the evening to see how other people wind down their days… It may give you the name of a new book to pick up, a stress-relief technique to try; hope because community does all that – true community. We can talk about the things that matter to us, say life, for instance!”

Life, for instance!” said Tasha.

“Grab it quick!” said Alex.

Bryan registered the domain name and Life, for instance was born.

A lot has changed since that evening. The Blogosphere is no longer the interactive place it once was or perhaps we just had all the conversations we needed to talk about and then went our separate ways. I post not 2-3 times a week as I once did, but once a month. These days, I write when the spirit moves me. I write to process the many changes in my life and to share the thoughts and ideas that keep me awake at night. I come to the porch in hopes that some other night owl will find me there and we can solve all the problems of life together.

I am grateful for all that the “LFI porch” gatherings have given me. That evening in the fall of 2010, I couldn’t have known we would have conversations of such depth, that venture into the paradox of life. I could never have anticipated how you would be there for me when I needed you most.

I wonder where we will all be eight years from now. 

Photo by Adi Goldstein on Unsplash

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About The Author


I have always loved writing and community building. I’ve written a book about healing and happiness, The Happy Place, as well as a Community Building book, Sounding the Drum: Community Building in the Digital Age,both available at any Amazon store. I’ve been through life changes that I thought were the end of my world, but I’m still here. You never know what will happen next. Isn’t that what makes life interesting?