
It’s unbelievably six months since I started this blog. I started it four months after my husband left our marriage, as a way to start finding the answer to the question ‘What the hell happens next?’
Also – it’s cheaper than therapy!!
We hear a lot of bad press about the influence social media has – but social media is just a tool. It’s what you do with it that matters. Blaming social media for the bad stuff is like blaming the alphabet for the existence of the gutter press! And I hope that you find this blog a nice place to be.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s not all a bed of roses – I get spam to this account, it’s a fact of life. If you have a letterbox you’re going to get leaflets through it!! Mostly it’s adverts for amoxicillin, which is a bit weird but not nasty. I have a very good spam filter, which comes with the WordPress set up – it’s good to feel confident that I won’t find something horrid in my in-tray and (even more important) you lovely readers won’t come across something horrid when you look at the Comments.
And the people I’ve come into contact with through my blog have been nothing but lovely. You’ve made me feel supported and validated and you’ve picked me up and brushed me down when I’ve wobbled. I think that’s such a powerful thing.
I genuinely think the outcome of the whole ‘husband buggering off’ scenario would have been very different if I hadn’t had this outlet – it’s good to write things down, but it’s even better knowing that there are people out there reading what I’ve written.
I’ve written nearly 100 posts (this is number 92), and had more than 3,000 visitors. My posts have been viewed more than 15,000 times. That means, on average, a visitor reads 5 posts when they come to this site. That’s phenomenal!! It means that you aren’t just reading my most recent post, you’re going on to read others. You’re either clicking on links in the post itself, or following the suggested links at the bottom of the page, or going to the home page and scrolling through all of my posts. I’m going to assume that means that you like what you’re reading!!
And the blog’s been viewed in 50 countries!!! Most of my readers are based in English-speaking countries, as you’d expect – but not all of them, not by any means.
As a result of writing this blog, I’ve been invited to write guest blogs for two other blog sites: BankLine Online is a website devoted to the history of the Bank Line Ltd, the company that my first husband worked for when I went to sea with him; and Sixty and Me is a website that aims to help women over sixty to have happy, healthy and financially secure lives.
So – what the hell does happen next? I’m still answering that question.
It’s been a bit of a roller coaster ride so far – scream if you want to go faster!
Scroll all the way down to Follow, Share, Like or Comment on this. And check out my ‘Sixty and Me’ badge.
I always reply to Comments from nice people.
I love your stories! They are so real. We all have our challenges. Go forth, girl, you inspire many of us! ( I am from South Africa ).
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much!! I’ll be mentioning South Africa before too long – in my posts about life at sea with my first husband we’re just about to head home from Papua New Guinea – but the next trip we did was on a scheduled run between the States and South Africa (Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, East London, Durban). Watch this space!!
LikeLike
Yep great blogs sis but I do worry about my, punctuation when commenting. But keep it up 👍
LikeLike
Ah, rightly so young Howie, rightly so. Happy belated birthday, by the way. xx
LikeLike
Hi,
I positively purred with approval when I read your post today!
Remenber ny comment as to whether you had been a journalust in another life……
Isn’t it great that your blog has attracted so many followers and yes please dont stop.
You might have ‘wobbled’occasionally as we all do but you have never whinged or gone diwn the self pity route. No mud slinging too and you’ve kept your family private.
As it should be.
It’s heart warming to know of all the genuinely nice people who read your blog. So happy you’ve been asked to write more. Well done!
LikeLike
Thank you!! It’s always a pleasure to come back on here and read the Comments. xx
LikeLike