Happy anniversary to me.

Yesterday was my first anniversary of my blog.  Yeah for me.

This blog has been good for me.  I have used it as an outlet, my soap box, and a sounding board for the irrational and strange thoughts that bounce around in my head. 

One of the strange side effects of having a blog is having other people have a view inside my head.  Nothing is more disconcerting for me than to have someone start a conversation with me about something that I am surprised they know about me.  Believe it or not, I sometimes forget that people read my blog, and that I am not just talking to myself.  I have 12 followers, but I know that more people read it, that aren't registered.  So, sometimes, I am just surprised at the people that are interested or care about what I think and write.

There are good and bad sides to the blog.  The good is that I have an outlet.  I can rant and rave, be bitchy, sad, mad, estastically happy, silly, weird, and it's all good.  It's my thoughts, my feelings. 

One thing I didn't expect was judgement.  My thought was always that "it's my blog, if you don't like it, don't read it."

One lesson I have learned with the photos is that when you put yourself out there, people feel they have the right to judge, comment and critique you. Not just your work- YOU.

So, I have been critiqued.  I have been judged.  I have been told that what I write is wrong, is depressing, is sad.  I have been told, quite literally, to smarten up and stop writing "stuff like that".  People worry about me, people laugh with and at me. 

I have thought about stopping.  Starting a new blog, completely anonymous.  One where I don't have to censor myself, because no one would know who I was.  But honestly, I have a hard enough time posting to this one with any regularity.  No way could I maintain another.

In retrospect, I am glad I started the blog.  It is cool to read back over the year and see what I have been through.  It's cool when someone that I don't know well tells me that something I wrote touched them.  It's cool when people that I do know, get to know me a little better.  Overall,  I think there has been more good than bad in this writing.

So, to celebrate my 1st anniversary, I am kicking it out to you, my loyal readers.  Leave me a comment, send me an email, or message me on Facebook.  Ask me a question, give me a topic.  I will dedicate an entire blog (or more than one) to answering your questions, or writing what you want to know or read about.  Nothing is off limits. 

Thanks to everyone that reads, follows, comments and feels right along with me.  Here's to years to come.

Rosie N. Grey
The N stands for "new year."