Happy Anniversary "Double Life" !

A year ago today, I began my foray into bloggery. My optimistic intention had been to post once or twice a week. I didn’t always do that (the month of December is non-existent though I caught up in January). Aside from that lapse, I wrote between 3 and 6 times a month – close enough to my goal to satisfy me.
Along the way I experienced writer’s block and the occasional surprise of sitting down to write one thing and ending up with a different story. I also suffered the necessary pains of editing. As I once wrote to a journalist friend “Sometimes editing is easy and sometimes it’s like cutting off a finger.”
In my desire for accuracy, I learned some fascinating facts about the different events, holidays and customs I described. I feel richer for that.
The most unexpected revelation in my year of blogging was becoming aware of the intricate weave of my Third Culture Kid-ness – especially when I described holidays which evoked not only childhood, adolescent and adult memories for me but my childhood country, my adolescent country, my adult country – and my passport country.
Bloggers, like all authors, hope -- to paraphrase Ray Kinsella in "Field of Dreams" -- "If you write it, readers will come". Here, too, I made a number of discoveries. Friends I thought would eagerly peruse every word within hours of my posting have proved lackadaisical and sometimes downright resistant. My two most faithful readers – the only people besides me who have read every post – are my best friend from childhood (you can always count on your childhood friends ) and a French friend from choir whom I didn’t even tell about my blog for months because I wasn’t sure she read English well enough to enjoy it. Françoise not only reads every post but sends me comments in an e-mail afterwards.
I have a small but international following. People from 20 different countries have clicked on at least one of my blog posts – including countries where I know no one.


Some arrive accidentally. I chuckled when I discovered that my blog post about French school vacations, which I humorously gave a Latin title, has been on page two of a google search ever since – as students seek help with their Latin homework. Sorry guys. Yesterday, I had a hit from the town where I spent my childhood – Oakville Ontario – where I no longer know anyone. I discovered the person’s google search words were “Margaret Sproat Oakville piano teacher”. My blog comes up as number 10 in that search even though I do not know and do not mention Margaret Sproat. I did, however mention taking piano lessons in one of my posts. And I mentioned Oakville in at least one other. I hope my accidental reader managed to connect with the piano teacher.
"What now?" I hear you ask. I’ve decided that my blogging experience has been worthwhile enough that I’d like to commit to another year. I still have things to share. And, no doubt, new events will crop up in the next 12 months. I hope you will commit to another year, too.
On to more adventures!