Two Years of Blipping!

Blip Birthdays are a day to say Thank You and I'll do that at the end. Before that I want to express what one of my serious friends calls, "touchy feely" stuff.

My first photo on Blipfoto was of a clock. I had no idea how apropos that image would be for this aspect of my life. On January 5, 2009 I thought the clock represented my desire to capture time, to savor each day, to record a memory. I wanted to be committed to keeping a journal each day. I had "sort of" done that for years just in a file folder on my computer. I thought I needed something more substantial. Substance was exactly what I found when I "googled" looking for a place to keep my thoughts and found "Blipfoto."

I had no idea what I was stepping into . . . I should say "clicking" into. I had no idea the community that came with this "thing" called Blipfoto. Back then it was a fairly tight knit community. I think everyone knew everyone else. It was amazing watching the connections and then being connected. Suddenly I was communicating with people from all around the globe. I began to think of Blipfoto as a wide ribbon of photos that circles the globe once every 24 hours with new photos appearing in front of me every few moments.

It didn't take but a nano-second and I was thoroughly addicted. I had to check Blip early every morning, throughout the day whenever I got near a computer, and many evenings were spent looking and marveling at the photos and/or the stories others had posted.

There have been times I am convinced that I enjoy commenting more than I enjoy posting. I love the "community" that happens in this place. Occasionally I've thought it would be interesting to see a compilation of all the comments I've left. For me it is a grand moment to compliment and encourage another blipper. I think maybe my best comment ever was left to encourage Wolf a few days after he had won Blip of the Week. He was a little overwhelmed and not sure he always could post that quality. I wrote, " . . . let me encourage you to photograph something from each day, whether it is a pencil, a coffee cup, your keyboard, a flower, a stranger on the street, a book cover, a candle, the highway in front of your steering wheel, the meal you are about to eat, your reflection in a window. If your standard is different than mine and your photo must be exquisite, then we may only see you every few days -- and we will wait. But I encourage you to look for the exquisite in the mundane, to look for the celebration in the silence, to bring us sights that we would not see without your camera, your eyes. Then months from now you can look back and remember every day, even the busiest of days, and even the mundane will become memories." I think he is the nicest person and often he posts amazing sights, like all of you do.

Somewhere, though, between Day 1 and today, I've realized that the reason I joined Blipfoto was to write . . . to capture what I can't keep in my head; to sort through the feelings of a day because some days make no sense and I want to fit the puzzle pieces together if I can; other days the excitement or the joy is so great I want to express it, I want to celebrate, so I do so in Blipfoto because in the other places of my life most people don't care everyone is too busy. In Blipfoto there's always someone who cares, even if it is one commenter. And that seems to validate that my celebration or my sorrow counts. So recently I am doing more writing and not enough commenting.

Mostly I joined Blipfoto to document for my kids and grandkids some messages and memories about our family. Someday my offspring will read what I've written on my blip pages about my grandparents, my parents, about me and Mr. Fun. Currently none of my family or kids or grandkids read my journal (except Mr. Fun, of course) and that gives me the freedom to express whatever I want to according to my mood or experience of the day. My kids will read my journal when I'm gone. A few friends who live far away, a distant cousin in Ohio, and one or two former students check my blip once in a while.

So without the concern of "what will my friends think" or "what will my family think" I can don any costume when something like LifeTurns is being celebrated, and gosh, I had crazy fun during that episode.

And last January when Joe introduced Twigs' idea to do "BlipTogether," I think the alchemy of this entire community was changed. I'm not sure that anyone can describe what happened at that moment -- it was magic. I no longer just felt connected to others, I felt bonded. These past 12 months I have met two blippers who each live more than a thousand miles from me. Dorrit invited us to come have dinner with her southern California family when they were here last June. Then in July I knew that "Abstract Eyes" would be vacationing in Laguna Beach and Mr. Fun & I were there wandering through Laguna's art village and I spotted her and her family -- I said, "Mallary?" When she answered, it was goosebumps to the fiftieth power. Then we all had coffee and cookies at the local bakery. Blipfoto has given me friends all over the world.

Then something else happened -- I received tangible gifts in my postal mail . . . postcards from Europe, a book from one in the the UK, placemats from Montana, personal gifts when our Bob dog died this past June, amazing soap-bars, and just last week Christmas pastries, and numerous other items. But mostly I've received amazing encouraging comments. Encouragement to continue writing. Thankfully no one has laughed at my photography. I am NOT a photographer--okay, I am now, but not like the rest of you. I get "lucky" occasionally with my point and shoot. I tell people, "The price I pay to be a blipper is a photo a day."

Now for what's really important:

Thank YOU Joe for creating this site! Thank you too to Joe's family -- you are all the best! Thank you to BlipCentral for all that you do. Thank you to all Blippers -- for those of you who comment and those who stop in. Thanks for the photographs that ALL of you post. I'm getting to travel the world through your journals.

Okay everyone -- this calls for champagne. So I'm ordering a round for all of us. Cheers.

Good Night from Southern California.
Rosie (& Mr. Fun, and new Chloe dog), aka Carol

P.S. Memories are the very best souvenirs!

P.P.S. That's Chloe's gingerbread man in the photo. Almost a year ago I posted a gingerbread man, so when I had the chance to get her one, I did. I love the cookie and she loves her toy. Crazy!