How do I measure a year?

 With apologies to the musical Rent....

How do I measure a year in the life of a blog?

Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred and eighty three minutes - give or take - since I embarked on this journey. How do I measure this last year...

I measure a year in three hundred and ninety two posts with seven hundred and sixty five comments from people in twenty one countries who have made up the fourteen thousand four hundred and seventy two page views.

I measure a year in friendships formed and bridges built. In the comfort given by strangers at critical moments. In the ability to brighten someone else's day with kind words or a humorous anecdote. In the ability to convey empathy in an often indifferent world.

I measure a year in the confidence I have gained. The poetry I have written and the goals I have made. In finding new parameters of success. To have succeeded even though my goal to lose weight hasn't yet been accomplished physically, I do feel lighter.

I measure a year in the strength gained to say what I feel and not what I think people want to hear. In being enough. In finding happiness within myself.

I measure a year in the places I have been and the people I have seen, the blogs I have read. The ones I have cried over and those I have laughed over. The ones that made me feel better and those that made me feel human. Thank you for blogging.

I measure a year in the five hundred or more coffees I have drunk, the post that no-one read, the one that everyone read. The posts I loved writing and those that drove me mad.

I measure a year by Lyrical Sundays and 30 Days of Truth. The moments I have shared. The secrets I have told. The pieces of myself, I have openly offered to the world so that I/they can see me more clearly.

I measure a year in the hundreds of thousands of smiles my son and husband have given me, the infinite love that surrounds me and the possibilities in the year ahead.

Thank you for being part of the last year. For being part of my seasons of love...

Yours,

LatteJunkie

xx