Show Yourself

So remember how I said I wasn’t going to let my blogging slip away from me this year.  About that…. It’s going to happen again.  Actually, I’m sure you’ve noticed that it has already started.

The funny thing about my blog is that even though it’s been 5 weeks since I’ve blogged, I’m still getting regular page views.  I know this because of the “stats” page on my blogger dashboard.

When I started this blog, I thought that writing was going to be the addictive part.  I was wrong.  My greatest joy from blogging actually comes from watching the stats for a post grow.  Strange, I know.  But I like seeing that people are reading my words.  Well, except for the “All In Post”.  That was a whole different beast itself.  It should be noted that it was seeing that the post had 500 page views in 2 hours within posting that clued me in on the fact that it had been posted elsewhere without my knowledge.  (Normally I only see 50 to 100 views max per post). 

Something that fascinates me is being able to see the pageviews by countries on the stats page.  It also makes me feel terribly guilty.

You see, when I started this blog, it was intended as a way to keep in touch with friends and family.  When I look at the pageviews by countries, I realize that my reach is much further than I thought.

Here, look for yourself.  This is a screen shot captured from today.

Russia, Canada, Malasia, etc.  I’m glad that my random thoughts are being read in such unfamiliar territory.  However I feel guilty in that I can’t identify who these people are, which means that I’ve lost track of a friend.

I know that these people have to be friends because of the traffic source tracker on the stats page (seriously, if you blog and you don’t pay attention to your stats – you should!).  I know that almost all of my page views are referred by Facebook, which comes from me posting my blog posts on my Facebook page.  Which, again, means that the majority of the people reading this blog are one of my 696 friends and that I know you well enough to keep you as a Facebook friend – but have lost track of what you are doing out there IN THE WORLD. 

I’ve lost track of you and I shouldn’t have.  Because if you are taking the time to view my blog 44 times (I’m looking at you Russia) when I only have 29 blog posts, that’s significant.  It means that you are interested in keeping up with me and what’s going on in my life.  And I feel terrible because I should know who you are. 

So this is my invitation to reconnect.  Because I want to reconnect.  I want to know how your life is going – out there IN THE WORLD!  I’m sure that you are doing wonderful things that are much more entertaining and unique than what I’m blogging about.  Let me know who you are Russia, Germany, Canada, UK, Latvia, Malaysia, Denmark, Italy, Netherlands… I should know that I have friends in those countries.  I may want to plan a vacation;)

Well, unless you are just an internet stalker who happened to stumble across this blog randomly.  In that case, having you in Russia is probably ideal….