Monday, October 8, 2012

Reflections About Blogging



The Halcyon is a legendary bird said to have a peaceful, calming influence on the sea. Modern usage is associated with happiness and tranquility.


Today is my 200th post since I opened this blog with my first post -- on February 11, 2012. My goodness, that amazes even me, that I have written  "almost" every day for the past eight months.

Thinking back, I can truly say I have enjoyed each and every day of my blogging life. When I began, I was spending 11 hours each day getting ready for work, commuting to work and putting in an 8-hour day at an office. I don't know how I found enough time to continue at the pace I did, until I retired on June 22.

But blogging was never, and is not now, a chore or a must-do thing on my agenda. I looked, and still look, forward to my time preparing it each day.

As you know from the variety of my posts, I am interested in a great many things, so my blog is difficult to categorize. Some blogs I enjoy are about cooking, fashion, gardening, art and a great many other topics. This one, Halcyon Days, is about wherever my brain is on any particular day. Books, poems, food, nature, pets, trips, photography just for the fun of it, stories about people from the past -- you name it. But always, hopefully, presented in an uplifting manner. Calm, peaceful Halcyon Days: not always achieved but always striving for.

Halcyon, a word rarely used today outside the expression “halcyon days,” means calm, tranquil, happy or carefree.


The term evokes images of an earlier time, remembered as
idyllic, whether accurately or not. Current use tends to be nostalgic and recalling the seemingly endless sunny days of youth.


While our busy lives don't always allow us Halcyon Days, we
can carve out time each day to slow down, enjoy the small things life has to offer and appreciate the beauty that’s
always there -- if only we open our eyes and hearts to it.

Thank you for visiting my blog. Together we can seek out the beauty and the meaningful on our daily journey through life.



For those who occasionally visit and read the posts, I thank you. To those who regularly visit and take the time to leave a comment, I REALLY thank you. To be able to have a two-way conversation with those of you both nearby and on the other side of the globe, well, that's really special and one of the great joys of blogging.

I believe we bloggers sometimes get caught up with wondering, "hello, is anyone out there?" But in the end, it has to be about the one who sits down to write it: a way of sorting out our thoughts, of making sense of our surroundings, of our past, our present and our future and connecting with others.

Another advantage of writing a blog has been becoming more aware of my surroundings, of paying better attention, of focusing on the small things. After all, hardly a day passes that my brain is not jogged into thinking, "hey, that's something I want to blog about."

Will the newness of it all wear off? After all, eight months is a short amount of time. Perhaps. But for now I am as enthusiastic about it as I was when I began.

And I always welcome your feedback. It's amazing how many blog ideas I have gotten from fellow bloggers or from readers.

Wishing you a great week!

12 comments:

  1. Hello Sanda

    Congratulations on your 200th post. Time flies.
    Wishing you success as you continue blogging.

    I am always happy to see your new post but time is not always on my side to make a response.

    Helen x

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    1. Thank you, Helen, and I always appreciate your comments here. You yourself a blogger who inspires and someone to "live up to."
      Have a great day,
      Sanda

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  2. Congratulations Sanda on 200 Posts! You have a wonderful way with words, and I enjoy every post. I am sure you will continue to be one of the world's best, and an inspiration to others (like me :) xx

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    1. Thanks, Patricia. I appreciate your kind words and yours is one of the blogs I enjoy very much. You do a wonderful job with yours!

      Enjoy your hot summer day in Australia!

      Sanda

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  3. I enjoy reading your blog very, very much even though we talk on the phone almost everyday. The blog covers things we don't get around to talking about and allows me to see deeper into that wonderful brain!
    When I started reading today's post, I thought oh no, she's stopping to do it. I could not read fast enough and was relieved to get further along and see that wasn't the case.
    Congratulations on #200.

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    1. Thanks, Sissy. Not a chance I'm going to stop blogging any time soon (mind is still racing!)
      \
      I always appreciate your visits here and your comments!

      Sanda

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  4. Sanda - Congratulations!
    I´m honestly so happy that Halcyon Days exists and enjoy reading your blog.
    You have an excellent memory and master your words really well.
    I visit your blog daily, and nearly always leave a comment - sooner or later, not because I feel it an obligation, quite the opposite.
    Blogging can become addictive. This is not a bad thing, if you get your other routines done along with the blogging.
    What puzzles me, just like it puzzles you - we both receive viewers from all over the world, but seldom comments from elsewhere than the English speaking world, though English is widely used all over.
    Oh well, today is not the day to ponder on that, today we are celebrating your 200th post.
    Cheers!

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    1. Mette, I appreciate your comments! Yours was one of the first blogs I started reading regularly and you were an inspiration for me starting my own!

      I ready your blog each day and always enjoy your perspective and topics. And you are so right: it becomes addictive. But I can think of worse addictions for sure!

      Hoping your weather there in Finland is not very cold yet!

      Sanda

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  5. Dear Sanda,I am so happy to have met you through the blog,and have learnt so much,and enjoyed logging on to see what your latest topic is,thank you....200! seems like only yesterday you started.

    Many congratulations.Ida

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    1. Getting to meet you has been very nice for me as well, Ida. I learn so much myself by researching topics that pique my interest. Thank you for being a regular reader and comment(er)!

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  6. Happy 200th! I enjoy blogging myself and most of all enjoy the variety of interests people have. You write so well it is a pleasure read your posts.

    Darla

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    1. Darla, yours is one of blogger "must reads" each day. I so appreciate people with artistic talents and it's always so enlightening to see your latest project!

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