I wasn’t sure I’d make it.
But I did.
This month marks the one-year anniversary of Girl Clown Dancing, the blog you’re reading right now. (Just in case you’re wondering, that comes out to 525,600 minutes, or 31,536,000 seconds. Isn’t Google great?)
Purposefully intended to be an essay driven site with a dash of memoir mixed in, this platform has allowed me to polish and nurture my writing… but it has done a lot more, too.
Those were my original intentions for starting a blog. But just as important, and it’s something I realized soon after inaugurating this site, GCD has given me the freedom to write about exactly what I want to write about. And, for someone who has long made a living writing for others, which also included meeting their point of view, word counts and deadlines, that’s a real gift. (This is not to say that a good part of those assignments weren’t satisfying to do. It’s just that they weren’t my ideas.)
Indeed, thanks to the magic that has made it possible to create this web site, I can now think, muse and pontificate about life from a unique point of view—mine.
When it comes to word counts, I get to write as much as I want to write about until the job is done. Deadlines still loom, but because they’re self-imposed—I post a new essay every two weeks, usually on weekends—they’re somehow easier to meet.
When I began, I had three topics I knew I’d write about.
Those were old cookbooks (http://hilaryrobertsgrant.weebly.com/blog/my-beautiful-love-affair); how I accidentally (literally) found yoga (http://hilaryrobertsgrant.weebly.com/blog/yoga-by-accident), and the suicide of my daughter’s first father (http://hilaryrobertsgrant.weebly.com/blog/a-shot-in-the-dark).
Other than that, I was at a complete loss.
The Hubster—who, after more than a decade of marriage, remains my biggest cheerleader—knew otherwise.
“Don’t worry about that,” he said. “You’ll never run out of things to write about because you’re a journalist. Observe and look around you, and you’ll see there’s always something happening. Once you do, the ideas will come.”
Oh, okay.
Of course, he was right.
To date, I’ve penned nearly two dozen essays, including dredging up topics that aren’t exactly festive.
Yes, there was the big thing: the story of my late partner’s sudden death, which has impacted my life, and my daughter’s life, about as much as any single event can do. But I also wrote about the challenges of a marriage that included eviction from a home that I loved (http://hilaryrobertsgrant.weebly.com/blog/a-decade-down-many-more-to-come), and the time I was snookered into buying a new vacuum cleaner that really was too good to be true (http://hilaryrobertsgrant.weebly.com/blog/getting-snookered).
I’ve also rejoiced over finally getting my very own, pink Princess phone (http://hilaryrobertsgrant.weebly.com/blog/the-princess-in-our-house), and attending my first professional wrestling match, which was way more entertaining than I could ever have imagined (http://hilaryrobertsgrant.weebly.com/blog/wrestling-makes-the-bucket-list). Then, too, there are my thoughts about New Year’s resolutions (http://hilaryrobertsgrant.weebly.com/blog/resolutions), and remembering the time I decided to never read again (http://hilaryrobertsgrant.weebly.com/blog/the-healing-and-happiness-train).
There have also been those posts that matter so much to me.
These include remembering my weekly violin lessons of so long ago (http://hilaryrobertsgrant.weebly.com/blog/saturdays-with-mr-muma) ; making the perfect grilled cheese sandwich (http://hilaryrobertsgrant.weebly.com/blog/ode-to-the-grilled-cheese-sandwich), and grieving the loss of cursive handwriting (http://hilaryrobertsgrant.weebly.com/blog/where-art-thou-cursive).
At any given time, I might have three ideas lined up—or none.
It’s all good, and it’s also a labor of love that I plan to continue for as long as I can.
Most important of all, I want to thank you, my loyal readers (especially those kind enough to regularly leave a comment or two, here’s a special kazoo honk out to you), for welcoming Girl Clown Dancing, and this girl clown, into your busy lives.
It is welcomed and appreciated more than you can ever know.
P.S. Don’t be shy! Please feel free to comment on any of my posts over the last year. Simply head over to Archives, found on the right side of your screen, and click on any month. Thank you!
But I did.
This month marks the one-year anniversary of Girl Clown Dancing, the blog you’re reading right now. (Just in case you’re wondering, that comes out to 525,600 minutes, or 31,536,000 seconds. Isn’t Google great?)
Purposefully intended to be an essay driven site with a dash of memoir mixed in, this platform has allowed me to polish and nurture my writing… but it has done a lot more, too.
Those were my original intentions for starting a blog. But just as important, and it’s something I realized soon after inaugurating this site, GCD has given me the freedom to write about exactly what I want to write about. And, for someone who has long made a living writing for others, which also included meeting their point of view, word counts and deadlines, that’s a real gift. (This is not to say that a good part of those assignments weren’t satisfying to do. It’s just that they weren’t my ideas.)
Indeed, thanks to the magic that has made it possible to create this web site, I can now think, muse and pontificate about life from a unique point of view—mine.
When it comes to word counts, I get to write as much as I want to write about until the job is done. Deadlines still loom, but because they’re self-imposed—I post a new essay every two weeks, usually on weekends—they’re somehow easier to meet.
When I began, I had three topics I knew I’d write about.
Those were old cookbooks (http://hilaryrobertsgrant.weebly.com/blog/my-beautiful-love-affair); how I accidentally (literally) found yoga (http://hilaryrobertsgrant.weebly.com/blog/yoga-by-accident), and the suicide of my daughter’s first father (http://hilaryrobertsgrant.weebly.com/blog/a-shot-in-the-dark).
Other than that, I was at a complete loss.
The Hubster—who, after more than a decade of marriage, remains my biggest cheerleader—knew otherwise.
“Don’t worry about that,” he said. “You’ll never run out of things to write about because you’re a journalist. Observe and look around you, and you’ll see there’s always something happening. Once you do, the ideas will come.”
Oh, okay.
Of course, he was right.
To date, I’ve penned nearly two dozen essays, including dredging up topics that aren’t exactly festive.
Yes, there was the big thing: the story of my late partner’s sudden death, which has impacted my life, and my daughter’s life, about as much as any single event can do. But I also wrote about the challenges of a marriage that included eviction from a home that I loved (http://hilaryrobertsgrant.weebly.com/blog/a-decade-down-many-more-to-come), and the time I was snookered into buying a new vacuum cleaner that really was too good to be true (http://hilaryrobertsgrant.weebly.com/blog/getting-snookered).
I’ve also rejoiced over finally getting my very own, pink Princess phone (http://hilaryrobertsgrant.weebly.com/blog/the-princess-in-our-house), and attending my first professional wrestling match, which was way more entertaining than I could ever have imagined (http://hilaryrobertsgrant.weebly.com/blog/wrestling-makes-the-bucket-list). Then, too, there are my thoughts about New Year’s resolutions (http://hilaryrobertsgrant.weebly.com/blog/resolutions), and remembering the time I decided to never read again (http://hilaryrobertsgrant.weebly.com/blog/the-healing-and-happiness-train).
There have also been those posts that matter so much to me.
These include remembering my weekly violin lessons of so long ago (http://hilaryrobertsgrant.weebly.com/blog/saturdays-with-mr-muma) ; making the perfect grilled cheese sandwich (http://hilaryrobertsgrant.weebly.com/blog/ode-to-the-grilled-cheese-sandwich), and grieving the loss of cursive handwriting (http://hilaryrobertsgrant.weebly.com/blog/where-art-thou-cursive).
At any given time, I might have three ideas lined up—or none.
It’s all good, and it’s also a labor of love that I plan to continue for as long as I can.
Most important of all, I want to thank you, my loyal readers (especially those kind enough to regularly leave a comment or two, here’s a special kazoo honk out to you), for welcoming Girl Clown Dancing, and this girl clown, into your busy lives.
It is welcomed and appreciated more than you can ever know.
P.S. Don’t be shy! Please feel free to comment on any of my posts over the last year. Simply head over to Archives, found on the right side of your screen, and click on any month. Thank you!
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