#Blipfoto17

The first thing I read this morning was this post from BlipCentral  about the fact that today is the 17th anniversary of the first ever post to this site, by Blipfoto's  founder Joe Tree.

Joe has appeared twice (I think)  in my blips and we  all have many reasons to be grateful to him for the idea  that posting a single photo a day would be , over time, interesting and satisfying and also improve the way that we see the world.

I was not in the first tranche of members, by any means.  My initial post was on the 18th of November 2009, some five years after Joe had started his own journal and I didn't start posting every day until Hogmanay of the following year.   But since then I haven't missed a day and this post is number 4056.

I like the idea of the bronze camera  badge for the original members and for those who reach 5000 posts - by my reckoning I will be lucky enough to get one on or around the 22nd of May 2024 so that is something to aim for !

Blipfoto allows me to do two things - first of all to take pictures and to seek to take better pictures every day.   Secondly however, it also allows me to record   - and then remember - with words as well as an image things in my life I might otherwise forget .

Blipfoto is certainly the most civilised form of social media I know - the principle of "being excellent" means that we are as a community a lot more positive and polite than those found on other channels.   That, for a politician , is a plus too. 

Posting is a learning experience -  gaining inspiration and ideas from the way other people see things and the imagination they bring to their pictures, and learning to look at the world and one's  surroundings more closely and more creatively.  

The lockdown posed a particular challenge , when the canvas on which most of us lived out our lives was dramatically narrowed ,  but despite the pressures , and sometime grief, that it brought it also brought new ways of seeing .  

Above all Blipfoto  for me is a daily moment of creativity and reflection in what has been a busy life.  My period of everyday blipping has covered not just a pandemic but also  two complete parliamentary sessions during which I was an active politician representing a sizeable  part of the West Coast of Scotland .  For most of that time I was also  a Government Minister , covering several different portfolios.   

Now retired I am still busy in a variety of roles but also able to reflect a bit more on what I see.   

I don't visit other journals as often I should - though I am increasingly doing so   - but I am grateful to those who drop by mine and, sometimes, leave a comment.  That makes a connection and provides feedback, which is another virtue of the site. 

Like all things  it has not always been plain sailing for Blipfoto.   Those who helped rescue the site during its period of difficulty deserve great credit and the only thing I miss from the earlier incarnation is the  the photo books which were once available, allowing a physical record of the pictures and accompanying words.  

It has also been good to introduce people to the site and see them become addicted to - there are a few, and  I particularly  enjoy reading their stories. 

One day I shall miss a day, I am sure.   But I hope it wont be before my 5000th blip  .

So thank you Joe and the other trail blazers.   And thanks for all the joy I have had from this site , and the things I have gleaned from around the world.   On the next 17 years now....

(My picture is one of the pandemic signs at Colintraive which is slowly being absorbed into the landscape.  I thought it signified both a hugely important event in the life of Blipfoto but also featured something of the Argyll landscape which is , I suppose, my enduring theme)

#OKtoshare.  #Blipfoto17