A year in words, pictures, and stitches

So, this is it. Today's entry means that I blogged every day in 2008 and exceeded my commitment to Blog 365, which permitted skipping leap day. I did not.

As a matter of fact, I've written something here every day since March 22-24, 2007, a comparatively enormous gap caused primarily by lack of internet access. (For the stat-heads: I didn't post on just seven days all of last year.)

I took up the daily blogging challenge per Donna's recommendation. I'm glad I listened and followed her lead. I view myself as a writer, even if not a professional one. Whether I had something worth saying or the motivation to type it out, pledging to blog each day gave my writing muscles a regular workout. Hopefully they're a little more toned than they were a year ago.

I had some days when I posted filler--obligatory entries whose nutritional values were nil--but I don't think that I resorted to publishing too many of those. Sure, I imagine I tacked up many self-indulgent posts, but then again, doesn't this blog's very existence hinge on some narcissistic need to write about oneself and think anybody cares a whit to read it? My hope is that you can pardon the entries you come across in which I am boring, cantankerous, or whiny and will return the next day to find something more to your interest.

You see, this blog is me, for better and worse, so when I feel like I'm being less than a good guest on your computer screen, I'm let down too. As a writer I aim to use my voice and not affect a persona. One may have emerged anyway, although I feel like I'm pretty true here to who I am. (I'll leave it to others to attest if I am how I appear.) Yes, I realize the seeming contradiction in saying I'm writing as myself rather than a construct while maintaining pseudo-anonymity, but it is that illusion of semi-privacy in a public forum that permits me to write more openly and directly about myself than I would otherwise.

If there's one thing I've come away with from a year of daily blogging, it is a better understanding of myself. This blog was predicated on the notions of journey and discovery, albeit more in the knitting realm than the personal. I still consider this a knitblog first and foremost, but I'm well aware that it's much bigger than that too. Writing every day has allowed me to reflect on who I am, how I became who I am, what I want, and what I can (maybe) do to change what I'm not satisfied with. I don't publish every rumination or go into all of the specifics, but the process of blogging every day has spurred the thoughts and internal monologues I sometimes share. The experience has been invaluable to me.

2008 is almost gone. It's been a year of ups and downs, although I suppose that's true of each twelve-month cycle. It's been a year of seeming isolation. It's been a year in which the nation feels like its been put through the wringer. While the news plays out like a contest to see who can deliver the bleakest forecast, hope exists as well. I know I need to be reminded of it from time to time. Whether it's through my knitting successes or something else I write, I'll try my best to remind you of it too.

And with that, I bring this year-long daily blogging experiment to a close. A new one starts tomorrow.

Happy new year.