Ten Days of Thanksgiving - Day 3

I’m spending the next week and a half documenting and reflecting on ten things I am thankful for this year. (Inspired by Lisa.)

• Day 1
• Day 2

Today, I am thankful for blogging.

When I started this blog, I didn’t have any long-term goals for it. All I wanted was a fresh start and a place to just write. To grow. To explore. To not be afraid of sharing my feelings.

It’s grown into so much more than I could have ever imagined.

Not only have I found a place to talk about what I’m going through with real and honest emotion, I have found people to connect with. Friends who have let me know that I’m not the only one who has gone through something or not the only one who feels that way. I have found connection and support. Some of you have challenged me to set goals and take on things that frighten me. Some of you have been a place for me to vent to. Some of you have helped me on school assignments or offered me advice.

It hasn’t been a one-way street, though. With these friendships, I have become utterly intertwined with your lives. I have hurt when you hurt and celebrated with you celebrated. I have developed some of the closest bonds with bloggers, some of them morphing into weekly e-mail catch-ups. While I have yet to jump into the world of Skype dates (who wants to be my first?), I still relish these relationships.

And 2012 is the year I leap into meeting you amazing people in real life. I’ve spent too long harboring jealousy over blogger meet-ups and worrying what people will think of the “real” me that I want to break out of that cycle.

And I would be remiss in writing this blog post about blogging and meeting blog friends, without mentioning a very special blog friend I met this weekend. I started reading Amber’s blog two or so years ago when she was still in journalism school. We were able to connect over classes and I ate up her posts about entering the professional world. We met at City Walk in Orlando on Saturday night where we proceeded to spend the night talking about blogging, books, language differences, and weather. (Yes, we discussed the weather. No, it wasn’t as boring as it seems.) We didn’t get a whole lot of time together but it was so good to finally meet someone whose life I had been following for years. I was nervous up until right before I saw her and then it was like catching up with a good, old friend. And now? Now I need to meet the rest of you.