20,000 Views and Counting

As I write this, my blog stats inform me that I am 71 clicks away from 20,000 all-time views for “Since You Asked….”  In light of this milestone in my blog writing career, I thought I’d give you a little historic background on this endeavor that I like to refer to as, “my little outlet”.

In April of 2010, I began my blog as an extension of the work I was doing as the Joplin Adoptive Families Examiner for Examiner.com.  The first post I wrote, “The Beauty of Awareness Campaigns”, reminded readers about the effectiveness of public service and awareness campaigns.

Over the course of that first year, I wrote sporadically about different issues that caught my attention – mostly news items concerning adoption such as an Arkansas judge who overturned the state’s ban on adoptions by same-sex couples and some bad media coverage adoption was receiving at the time.

And then the tornado hit.  I wrote about our community’s efforts to rebuild after that devastating storm (something I still write about); I wrote about my family; and I wrote about the things that brought us joy during a time when so many were experiencing great loss and pain. 

My examination of our community during this time of crisis helped me refine my focus and what I choose to write about here on this blog: family, community, the arts, and wellness.  After witnessing the willingness of the thousands of volunteers who traveled to our community to help us clean up and move toward recovery, I have come to believe that people are indeed connected and that if we work together we can make great things happen.  Together we CAN change the world.

I love writing.  I love reporting on the great things that I learn about that are helping families and communities.  I love writing about the value of art in our lives.  And I love writing about the many wonderful things that are happening in my own community of Joplin, MO.

Thank you.  Thank you to all of you who stop by here from time to time just to read what I might have to say regarding my observations about the world around me.  And thank you to all of you who have made contributions to this blog.  Your stories enrich us all and provide another opportunity to learn how we can make our world better.

If you have a friend who hasn’t heard about “Since You Asked…” yet, please feel free to share one of your favorite posts with him or her.  Here’s to the next 20,000 views!

Do you have a favorite post here on "Since You Asked..."?  What is it?  What types of stories do you enjoy reading about?  Do you write a blog?  If so, share your link in the comments section below so we can stop by and read!