Monday, December 13, 2010

The Blogging Class of 2009

Photo courtesy of
Bing images
I began Healing Morning blog in September of 2009.  At the time, I had absolutely no idea what I was doing or where blogging might lead me.  I actually had to get a girlfriend who was familiar with blogging to show me how to set my blog page up.  We met at a local Panera Bread with her laptop and that's how Healing Morning was born.

From there, I bumbled and fumbled my way along, exploring all the infinite details of marketing my blog, gaining readers and followers, adapting various formatting tools to my own needs and learning.  Always learning.  That learning process continues today, more than a year later, and I doubt it will ever end.  Blogging and the blog-o-sphere is a fluid world, ever changing to fit the new dynamics of the internet and new programming brain child creations of widgets, gadgets and flashy fun things.

Around the time of my one year anniversary, or blog-o-versary, I began to realize that many of the dear friends I've made in the blogging world had also created their own blogs around the same time I created Healing Morning.  I still find this to be rather apropo and fascinating.  Was it an accident that we all decided to venture into the world of blogging at the end of the summer of 2009?  I don't think it was an accident at all.  I think there was very sure, clear, beautiful purpose and Divine Order and logic to the whole thing.

We became what I am now calling The Blogging Class of 2009.  In a sense, we all started a new school, just as we did with first grade in elementary school.  These people, regardless of linear age, are my contemporaries in the school of blogging.  We've all struggled with various ephemeral classes such as Content, Marketing, Advertising, Gadgets and Widgets, Embedding Photographs and more.  Some of us turned out to shine more brightly and show more aptitude than others in certain "classes".  We have banded together to support and encourage one another, to cheer one another on with victorious moments, and to be the proverbial hand to hold in sad times.  A few of us have dropped off the face of active blogging, and that's a natural progression to a degree. 

It is said that there are literally millions of "orphan blogs" cluttering up the blog-o-sphere, where people just abandoned the poor things when they found the task of daily maintenance to be too burdensome.  Again, this is a natural occurrence.  As with all things, there is a season.  Some blogs just aren't meant to last forever. 

For the current moment, my Blogging Class of 2009 is still mostly intact.  There is a core group of us who are earnestly tapping away at our keyboards on a regular basis, giving birth and voice to a wide range of topics and mindset on our respective blog pages.  I find it fascinating, how we all migrated together within that one to two month time period of late summer of 2009. 


Photo courtesy of
Authentic Blogger
 Different blogging concepts have been born as a result of all this interaction, with Authentic Blogger Facebook Group being one of them, and one of my own personal proud achievements.  Awards, large and small, have been doled out to many of those in this core group.  I predict that there will be a few breakout stars among us in the future.  Indeed, there are a few who have already gone on to achieve some impressive feats with becoming published authors, or contributing columnists to various high profile online websites.  These achievements make me smile, just as I have experienced when witnessing proud moments of classmates that I grew up with.  In the blogging sense, I continue to grow along with these virtual classmates, and I truly do revel in the victories of my contemporaries.  Success of a blogging nature is contagious, I have found, and it encourages us all to continue writing, striving, dreaming and creating.

Where will this particular, intimate Blogging Class of 2009 grow?  Where will we all land in the creative process?  Personally, I hope there is no evident end in sight for any of us.  I would wish for all of us to endlessly flourish, to continually grow, to tirelessly excel and dream.  What I can say with certainty is that an unseen bond exists between all of us.  I believe we all subconsciously entered the world of blogging for a larger purpose, with one of them being for all of us to connect in this seemingly random manner.  Accidents, my friends, do not exist - I think most of us are aware of this.  The Blogging Class of 2009 happened for a reason.  Great things have come as a result already and more great things will be created in the future. 

As we reach the end of another calendar year, I will very soon celebrate another one year anniversary - that of Authentic Blogger on Facebook.  As the snow falls softly outside my office window tonight, I have been very reflective.  This happens to me every year in December, as I cast my mind back over what I have lived and experienced in the past twelve months.  Through whatever whim of Fate and the Unseen Guiding Hand of Light, I landed right slap in the midst of the Blogging Class of 2009.  I am forever connected to this cozy group of creative, talented, bright individuals and find myself in excellent company.  You all know who you are, and I hope you are smiling as you read this post.  I vote that we create some bumper stickers, maybe a class t-shirt, plan a Senior Trip in three more years, and talk up a class reunion at some point.  This was our Freshman Year, and I believe we have all done ourselves proud with our writing endeavors. 


Well met, Class of 2009....well met, my friends.

15 comments:

  1. I find the blog-o-sphere a strange place, at times it feels very cold and lonely and then other times when you finally get into the networking you meet some wonderful characters.

    I have a wonderful network of blogging colleagues - they are amazing but I still feel very much alone a lot of the time as there doesn't seem to be a big field of bloggers in the UK and as such I cannot get involved in a lot of the events, etc that take place for bloggers, plus being in the UK I do tend to get overlooked or forgotten and it's tiring to always push yourself in this way. I'm hoping the UK will catch up at somepoint and I'm doing my best to start some of that too.

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  2. SJ, it definitely doesn't happen overnight. It took me that whole calendar year to get what I feel is a good foundation going, and to amass a solid readership. I think it was a good 6 months going by before I had my first 100 readers/followers for Healing Morning. The journey has been interesting, I can say that sincerely! I've had to learn to be my own advocate in getting exposure for my blog, and that's not always a comfortable process. I value the friendships that I've made along the way. Be patient, sweetheart, and keep doing what you're doing. You'll connect with an equal number of wonderful bloggers, and celebrate w/ your own class! :)

    Thank you for taking time to visit, read this post & leave such a thoughtful comment.

    Namaste',
    Dawn

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  3. Happy Anniversary to you! No surprise to me this site has taken off like it has. You are a genius and so creative my sweet Dawnie. I am so proud of you. xoxo Janie

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  4. Happy Anniversary!! I guess I am also a part of the Blogging Class of 2009, seeing as that is the year that I really got in to blogging.

    Now I may not still have the fan/reader base I have been hopeful for, but at least my blog, as well as I have grown and matured.

    Here's to the impending New Year and the hopes that it will be one for some of the best blogging yet for Healing Morning and all of the blogosphere!!

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  5. Your post is a wonderful recollection of the last year. and the amount you have been able to achieve along with your cohorts.

    I've been blogging for about the same time but really have no desire in getting a huge following as my blog is rather an album of events that one day my girl will look on with pride and embarrassment(hehe).

    Great work you have achieved so far, I know it is still only the beginning for you, Healing Morning as well as Authentic Blogger.

    Cheers

    P.S. I guess I should add my other blog web-of-life.com to your facebook group. The one that I do want followers for!

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  6. I have a content smile right now. You, me, Savira,Brent, Ron, Duane, just to name a few...all Class of 09. We have come a long way! The struggle was worth every minute an I can only imagine what the future will hold if we stay the course and fight the fight. We all have garndered some kind of 'success' in our respective blogging fields. I miss the few we started out with and lost, but it wasn't their time yet, perhaps later and we can help them along the way with all we have learned when they get back. What an adventure, Dawnie...and yes you CAN get an ALIEN from me on that right NOW! Love you, am so blessed for having you in my life! <3

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  7. Happy anniversary and thank you for this thoughtful post.Much like you I only started in blogging because a few of my friends had blogs, but I've been blogging for nearly 6 months and I'm still enjoying it.
    I think the world of blogging is an experience in itself and there are some very selfish bloggers out there, so it's nice when you meet people who will always follow, support and comment on your posts.
    I'm smart enough to realise that my own blog will have a limited life span but I wish you every success in 2011 with Healing Morning and you're Facebook group!

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  8. Happy Anniversary, Dawn! It's so nice to have such wonderful classmates to go through this blogging process with.

    Hey, since we're in class together, does this mean I can sit behind you and pull your pigtails? :)

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  9. Hey Dawn! Interesting how you run into certain people and just click. We've got a great network from around that time, every one starting something on their own, probably not certain that anyone would ever read the output at all. Just goes to show you that sometimes the important thing is just to do something, and once in a while the universe will surprise you.

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  10. Wow, what a wonderful response this post has received so far!

    Janie, it has been a fun journey, yes, indeed! Sparking creativity and meeting amazing new friends - nothing to complain about w/ all of that! :) I'm proud of your own steps and blogging that you've made this past year as well. Keep going forward, keep spreading that sweet Spirit of yours & keep smiling!

    Missy, we've all definitely grown so much in this past year, haven't we? When I wrote this post, it felt for all the world like this small group of us really was a graduating class that grew up together. :)

    Alex, definitely add your other blog to the AB group page! The more, the merrier, after all. Thanks for the kind words on where we are w/ AB, and where I am with Healing Morning - I hope we all continue to grow and achieve more awesome things!

    Lise, add Bethie, Bernadine, Irma Kaye, Stephie and Tony to the list. I'm sure I've forgotten some names there, but those are the core group I was thinking of, along w/ those you listed, for how we all mysteriously started blogging around the same time. We're forever bonded as a family, I think! And I'm smiling, because I KNEW there would be an Alien NOW! in there somewhere! Love you, sister! <3

    Paul S., congratulations on your own success with your blog! Yes, there are some bloggers out there who aren't as open to sharing and being helpful and that's a shame. I think that reciprocating just makes sense, as it helps everyone out in the long run. As far as your own blog's life span, you never know what the future will hold and it might surprise you! :)

    Dave....owww! If there's ink on said pigtails at the end of class, I'm telling the teacher! ;-) I'm glad we're in class together too, even if I do have to suffer the inevitable boy pranks. Friendships gained through blogging are such an unexpected blessing and one I really never anticipated would enrich my life so much. :)

    Brent, it IS interesting how the internet connects us, I agree. In fact, I wrote a blog about that very concept last year (you're probably not surprised). I never dreamed blogging would bring me to the point I'm currently enjoying, and I have no idea where it will lead me in the future. I just know that it's been a wild ride so far, and I look forward to all the fun, unexpected experiences yet to come. I love your final comment, btw - that's a t-shirt slogan in the making! :)

    Thank you, everyone who posted a comment here. Each of you hold a dear place in my heart & I send back to you equal support, encouragement and plain enjoyment of your blogging and our friendship.

    Much love, and Namaste',

    Dawn

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  11. It has been a great year,terrific things have happened, and 1 of those great things is I started a blog and then went looking for other blogs and discovered a huge new social media. Wecan but wonder about where this new mode of communication will lead us, and about the power that this network of blogs could become in effecting social awareness and change in the future.

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  12. Hi Jim, and thanks for visiting my blog! Yes, it's a whole new world, this blog-o-sphere, and definitely one that continues to surprise me in a variety of ways. The friendships, the learning, the knowledge, and the sheer fun are all things that keep me going. I, too, am interested to see where the future will lead each of our respective blogs, as well as where it will take blogging in general. :)

    ~ Dawn

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  13. Happy anniversary to you! I am just starting out myself. About one month in.

    I stumbled upon your blog today and think it's great. In fact I will "follow" along and add you to my blogroll. =)

    Marvelous Minutia
    http://marvelousminutia.blogspot.com/

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  14. :) This just made me smile of course. :)

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  15. Ryan, thank you for taking time to visit my blog! I wish you all the best with your own blogging journey. I can promise you that you'll thoroughly enjoy the process! You'll make friends around the world, learn all sorts of interesting tips on formatting and marketing your blog, and best of all, you'll grow as a writer. I'm going to zip over and visit your blog as soon as I finish here. :) Good luck!

    Duane, I'm glad this one made you smile!! So, where should we go on that Senior Trip in three more years? Some place really cool, most definitely. :)

    ~ Dawn

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