Another Christmas was survived and here we sit just a few days away from the beginning of yet another new year. Is it just me, but I swear the older I get the years are literally flying by! I mean didn’t 2011 just start? Now you guys are telling me that it’s almost 2012…yikes!
All jokes aside, 2011 was not a bad year for me. I started the year deep in debt, and had a few health scares. Thankfully, I end the year with both my boobs intact and thanks to laws that acknowledge that sometimes you need a clean financial start; I am mostly out of debt. Seriously I am happy as hell for both of these things; it’s nice to be able to answer my phone again, what a shame only telemarketers call me!
It’s that time of year where I draw inward and reflect on what worked and what didn’t work and start to make a game plan for the upcoming year. I must admit watching this blog grow has been great, this space is truly where I strive to keep it real. When I started this blog in 2008, after one failed attempt in 2007, I had no goal other than to write regularly. I figured if I could force myself to write several times a week, that was great, and if anyone other than my family read it, that was gravy.
Unlike my columns for the Portland Phoenix, or grant writing that I do, this is the space that allows me to literally be myself. I joke with people that aside from not sharing the personal of personal shit that need not be shared with perfect strangers, I really don’t censor myself. Then again the online me is pretty much the same as the offline me. I will be honest though and say that lately I find it harder to stay honest and real. The downside of the blog readership growing is that more and more folks who know me offline read this blog, including people who know me professionally. Never did I imagine years ago that this space would be read by anyone other than bloggers who lived far away from me. I admit naming it Black Girl in Maine, sometimes feels burdensome when you are in fact a Black Girl in Maine.
While I am amused that this blog made a list that many in the blogging world see as a good thing, I am ambivalent about it. A fellow blogger asked me, what did I get for being on Babble’s list? Great question aside from many kind words, not a damn thing. If you are wondering does that mean brands are knocking on my door the answer is no. Actually I have noticed that a few other smaller bloggers who I have come to adore have stepped back from me, as if by virtue of being on some list that will change me…nope, I am me. I am starting to think the whole idea of ranking blogs simply pits blogger against blogger.
A few gripes aside I will say that this year’s growth in the blog is leading me to think seriously about writing a book. I have often thought perhaps there is a story here somewhere. I mean shit, how many Black girls born on the west side of Chicago at the County hospital end up in Maine as the administrator of a non-profit agency? So one possible goal for 2012 is to get serious about the writing and hope I can find a way to publish it. Worse case, I figure an e-book might be nice. Granted with all on my plate it may take a while to sit down and do it but hey…gotta have goals.
So reflecting back on 2011 in the life of a blog, I have to say 2011 did me well. May 2012 bring me some revenue stream so that I can free myself up to do that which truly feeds my soul.
This is the first in a series of post this week looking back on 2012.
