One Year Later….

/ Ann Coleman

One year ago, I finally worked up the nerve to start writing a blog about coping with middle age.  I’d been feeling a bit lost for a while, struggling to adjust to all the changes middle age brings, while at the same time trying to figure out exactly what I wanted to do with the rest of my life.  I wasn’t especially sad (although every time I look in the mirror and see the wrinkled skin on my sagging neck, I do feel like crying, just a little bit), but I did feel as if I was drifting in a strange new world that I didn’t really understand.  So it seemed like a good time to take a risk and start the blog I’d been thinking about writing for a long time, especially since I had a good friend who kept encouraging me to give it a shot.

When I wrote that first post, And Now I Really Feel Old, I was so clueless about blogging that I wasn’t even sure if the post was going to make it to the internet, but it did.  And friends and family, some of whom I hadn’t heard from in years, read it and were kind enough to tell me they enjoyed it.  That gave me the courage to keep going, even when I didn’t know how to change the format of my page, tag my posts, or any of the etiquette of interacting with other bloggers. But I kept trying, and with the help of other bloggers, I finally figured out most of what I need to know to write my blog.

My blog is not big or particularly successful.  I have only 192 followers, and the largest number of views of any of my posts is 239.  Still, I have felt rewarded for every single post I have ever written, because each one has brought a gift:  a new follower, a contact from an old friend, a reader who told me that the message in my post was exactly what they needed to hear that day, or a comment that was so funny it made me laugh out loud.  For me, that is the best kind of success.

IMG_0709Every new venture brings results we didn’t predict, and this blog is no exception.  It’s helped me reconnect with old friends and distant family.  It’s introduced me to a world of wonderful blogs written by smart, caring people who now feel like friends.  This blog has me writing regularly again, on a real schedule, which has reminded me that I truly am a writer, despite my file cabinet full of rejection letters.  Most of all, it’s taught me that, even in my late middle-age, I am not too old to try something new.  This blog has helped me find my way at a time in my life when I was just a little bit lost.

Last week I was nominated for the Blogger Recognition Award by Sandee M., who writes a great blog called the Forty-Something First Time Bride.  (Check it out, she’s a gifted writer who describes her adjustment to married life eloquently and honestly.)   As a nominee, I’m supposed to give advice to other bloggers, but I don’t think I have much to add to the advice that’s already out there, so I’ll just say this:  Do it. Take the plunge and start your blog.  Write even on the days when the words come hard, and the self-doubt creeps in.  Just keep writing, and in the end, it will absolutely be worth it.

 

33 thoughts on “One Year Later….”

  3. Anne, I think I am in the middle age, not think, I am, but to be honest I don’t think about it. (See I don’t think) It is indeed scary as to how I got here, but somehow I feel I am same person, with a few wrinkles, a few grey hairs, a little bit wiser and more maybe a bit cautious. My mid life crisis was to start running, something I never did when I was young, but I realized it is about pushing yourself out of your comfort zone and doing something to challenge yourself and tell yourself, yes you can do it. Glad you started this blog and that you are enjoying it. Don’t they say ‘age is just a number’, well as cliche as that sounds, it is just a number, keep doing what you are doing. Good luck !

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    • Thank you for the kind words! They are exactly what I was talking about as one of the gifts of writing a blog: connecting with new people who have words of wisdom that can enrich my life. And congrats on starting running in your middle age! That takes strength and dedication, and is an inspiration to the rest of us to keep challenging ourselves, no matter what our age.

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    • Thank you! And yes, self-publising is one of the things I’m looking into right now. The problem is that all of my fiction is written for the middle-grade audience, and I’m not sure there is a self publishing market for that. But I’m thinking that I might do it anyway, just to have the manuscripts in a form I can share with friends and family. And that might just give me the courage to write a novel for adults, as well!

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  7. Although I might not respond to every blog….know that I do read them……..your words do resonate….the timing of your writings seem to feel parallel to my life… I’m so thankful for your friendship and your gift of writing. Don’t. Stop. Ever.

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    • Thank you, Deb. You have no idea how much your support means to me… We all have lots of people in our lives, but only a few of them are a gift to us. Thanks for being one of my gifts.

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  8. Congratulations on your one year anniversary, Ann!! It has been a real pleasure meeting you here and reading your thoughts. As I’ve said before, you write from your heart and do it in a way that conveys your feelings to those of us who read your words in a way that transcends age and time. That, more than anything, is how real success is measured. Here’s to many more years of doing what you love and making our time here much more enjoyable. Stay well.

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    • Thank you so much, George! You are one of the people I am so glad I’ve “met” through blogging, as you always leave such encouraging comments, and you write so well on your own blog, too. You also write from the heart, and what you write is always worth reading, whether it’s a humorous post, an insightful observation, or an eloquent update on your grandson. Your blog posts are a gift to the rest of us…as are your comments on our blogs… I hope you know that!

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  11. Happy blog birthday! So glad to be at this ‘birth’day party with you Ann! You do write a wonderful and heartfelt blog and I love it because we’re both following a similar path. I’m so glad you’ve become one of my ‘blogging buddies’. Keep up the great work–you’ve had great success! ❤

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  12. Congratulations on your first full year blogging. It was lucky for all of us that you eventually plucked up the courage to do it. I know what you mean about blogging being great for making us write to a schedule. I feel exactly the same way about it. In my case, I feel blogging has given me a writing discipline that I don’t think I had before. I’m looking forward to leaving a comment on your second blogging anniversary too. 🙂

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  13. From one middle-aged blogger to another, I love your blog Ann, congratulations on your first blogging birthday and may there be many, many more 🙂

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  14. Hi Ann, I found your blog by searching “middle-aged bloggers”. I enjoyed readying your blog and relate to your themes. I’m a middle-aged blogger myself and encouraged by your success at one year. Congratulations! Tammy at lostpineslife.com

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