PHDinMeBlog- Thanks for a Lil Help! FOLLOW UP and MORE!

Good Morning Scholars!

(Depending on where you are in the world of course!)

You guys came through as I knew you would!

It looks like my settings are just fine and I had just been stalled out on 95 followers for about two weeks more or less:/

WARNING! IF you just wanted a follow-up you can stop here!!!!!! (Said in my near perfect-yeah right- James Earl Jones voice) This young lady is QUITE the wordy one today! ha!

Hmmmm. lol!  My blog community had been growing so steadily and consistently, I thought something must not be working right!  Haha! Is that presumptuous?  Because surely if people are not following MOI, then something HAS to be malfunctioning!  lol!

After seeing you guys’ responses I had to take a moment to think about this.  What does this mean?  On the one hand we should be blogging for ourselves and the amazing creative outlet that it can be.  On the other hand we blog publicly for Pete’s sake so obviously we want someone to read our posts for whatever personal reason that we may have.

But what happens when no one is reading,regulars stop commenting, likes are minimal on a post you put your heart into or followers are few?  I have read many posts where bloggers start “spazzing” about this phenomenon. They become stressed about what to post and who will like it.  They are afraid to take a break from posting.  They worry about their stats.  They feel guilty and even depressed when they feel they have “nothing to post about.”  I read these posts and I am like “dang, something is not right with this.”  I get where they are coming from, but it still ain’t right!

When I started this blog, it was to serve as a place to put my ideas out.  I want to motivate and inspire people to live their best lives WHILE I strive to do the same.  I have always had a love for PEOPLE!  Now, I am an introvert but I am not shy, so my way of walking this love of people out does not look the way people normally expect it to but it is what it is.  One on One with people I am a “beast” in doing what I do (That means I am very good at it-ha!) which is motivating, inspiring and encouraging.  I am also a talented public speaker, but I also like to pull back a lot and sometimes at inopportune times and I am also VERY private.  Only an introvert can get what I am about to say next but sometimes, I can literally adore someone, and see them in a hallway for example and hope they don’t see me or will try to make a turn and exit before they do see me! “Huh?” hahahaha!  It’s true! ROTFLMBO!  This is even hilarious TO ME! I am cracking up even as I type but it is true y’all!  Whew!  The other thing is that I am very self-fulfilled with an active inner life.  So I can be in a room full of people and completely be in my own world.  I can be in a room (full of people I know or strangers) and not speak or be spoken to and be just fine.  Interestingly, this can make some people uncomfortable. Lol!  So, when I think it matters I will be intentional about making people feel comfortable and extend myself more. But to be honest, many times when I become aware of it or I should say by the time I become aware, I am much more entertained by watching people try to “figure me out”  haha!  I truly and sincerely find people fascinating and watching people read other people is entertaining to me!  haha!  Oh boy, as you can see I easily entertain myself!  I am imagining all the psych majors having a ball with this one!  But it’s really not hard to analyze.  I really just think it’s all pretty common for true introverts living in an extrovert world.  I didn’t even have a clue I was an introvert until I was in my early 20’s and I was in my 30’s when this I met an amazing lady whose child was in my daughters class, who was a successfully published children’s book author, musician, teacher, married mother of 4 and breast cancer survivor (with the cutest short curly haircut) who was doing all these amazing things in the community and in a conversation she and I were having in a little corner of the room (of course) she started talking to me about herself and as I am listening to what she is describing I was like “that’s me!”  Don’t you just love when that happens!  She used the word “introverted” to describe her “ways” and had developed skills to overcome those natural tendencies.  Wow, THAT’s what it was!  LOL!  That was some odd years ago now.  Since then I have met SO MANY others and we get each other right away!  And those of us introverts over a certain age know how “weird” it can come off! Ha!

Soooooo, this blog was my attempt to work through some of  those “funny acting” tendencies and be bolder in getting out of my own way which can hold me back in some things that I would like to do in the way of sharing my gifts and talents with others.  I could EASILY keep it all to myself but then I wouldn’t be walking in my fullness because none of our gifts and talents are meant solely for ourselves!  PLUS, I ENJOY when I do share of myself!  It makes ME grow!  This blog was my place to be my most authentic self even in front of strangers- gasp!  I have seen that grow over these months!

Was NOT meaning to write all this as a follow-up but it came from the contemplation. I freestyle on this blog!  This is my VERY FIRST blog and I knew NOTHING about blogging or even what a blog community was.  It’s not my goal to write proper verse or do heavy research or whatever you can think of that is ALL put together.  Nope, this blog is my playground to be ME!  This blog is my place to practice!  This blog is my place to put forward the disciplines needed to be my best self.  For example:  One of my goals for being my best self was to commit to the blog and post everyday since I was taking significant gaps after first starting it.  Having those gaps was making me feel bad not because I wasn’t getting readership because I honestly wasn’t expecting that and didn’t know how to even get followers-ha! It was making me feel bad because I wasn’t doing something that I said I wanted to do and really did want to do for the reasons I have already mentioned.  So for the past however long I have seen that indeed I HAVE posted every day! Yay!  Go Me!  Now sometimes, it’s just a little quotation or what have you, but it’s a post and I am not selling myself short and guess what I feel good that I have not let MYSELF down, that day! With this particular goal for instance, I have good enough of a habit that if I wanted to, I could now cut myself some slack on the daily post because I have built up the natural desire to post regularly.  I might just do that but right now, I’m feeling good about staying with this current goal.  Not for readers, for Me.  I’m gonna tell you, I always like to keep things popping so things WILL change but only and always for the better! (as I see it of course;)

That said, the followers of this blog HAVE BLESSED ME IMMEASURABLY! They have encouraged me beyond belief and I TRULY VALUE each one.  My regulars are a “trip” and I honestly know what blog community and family means now!  You guys make me laugh, think, pray harder, try harder and BE MORE! The talent on these blogs that I have been introduced to through them is nothing short of amazing!  I sometimes wonder how the WHOLE world does not know about blogging and bloggers and how uptil only months ago I was ONE OF THEM!!  There are humans in this blog world that represent the brightest stars in existence! Even the grumpy bloggers can be amazing! HAHA! You know the ones who are like I am mean and dark, don’t come near me and don’t even give me an award because I am going to hurt your feelings if you do because I am a mean monster in real life-lolol!  Then they write the most beautiful post or poetry you have ever seen!  And you “like” that post and believe what they say and head for the hills until you want to fill your spirit with deep introspective posts like the ones they share again- if you dare! ha!

THIS is what I thought about when I realized my follower button (or whatever it is) is working JUST FINE! HAHA!  And indeed it is because I had 1 new follower yesterday (she messaged me to tell me she was going to follow before I sent the “lil help” post out and obviously is a woman of her word and a great artist/jeweler to boot! http://www.yesterdayafter.com).  I am glad this happened early on in my blogging experience.  I was getting caught up in the movement of my follower numbers and hadn’t even realized it until it stopped moving! Especially since it was nearing 100- oh my!  (My kids egged that on because they think I am famous if I get likes and follows and they see the stats graphs with the LONG bars and the map with colors from around the world-haha!) But today, I have refocused the lens and realigned the “spine”  to make sure I am walking with clear vision and standing upright!  I welcome and encourage more and new followers and likes but I am more focused on the original motivation and hope to keep THAT focus! This blog has TRULY met and SURPASSED the goals I had for it! In that regard I could actually sign off today, but it’s become so much more for me.   I am a humble student of life and I LOVE to learn.  The beautiful comments I get feed my soul and confirm that what I share has the positive impact on lives and days that I hope it does.  Those likes also lead me to blogs that open and expand my horizons in the most awe-inspiring ways!  BUT this blog will remain about ME on a journey to live me best life, develop myself in the areas I am led to do so and HAVE FUN! Sometimes Serious sometimes Far From it- HA! It will not always be polished but it will be perfect- perfectly me!  My platform and playground- Perfect in purpose!

Photo by: more than likely one of Shona’s kids playing with her phone when they probably should not have been during her practice- but got a good shot so glad they did! 🙂

I LOVE YOU SCHOLARS! And Lord knows if you read all this you must LOVE ME! LOL!

LIGHT and LOVE,

SHONA

PLEASE share your thoughts with comments and do follow PHDinMeBlog as I (WE) Pursue a Higher Degree in Me!