Now we are six

Six months.

Blog and I have now been together for exactly six months. 180 posts (including this one) and some 288 comments (thank you for your contributions - I've appreciated them far more than I've ever said) later and I'm still here. And you're still here - I'll take that as evidence I'm doing something right. I'm trying to think right now how my attitude to all this has changed since I started blogging. Certainly the novelty has worn off now, but the simple act of blogging still seems to hold a lot of appeal for me. I believe a lot of that stems from the fact that it allows me to keep in touch with my friends, especially those far distant. I wasn't sure when I started writing this how many people I would ever show it to. I can't deny there's a power in writing anonymously, knowing you can freely express yourself without any recriminations, but more and more I want the opposite. I want to be able to express myself knowing that I can face the repercussions of my words and actions. To be able to live transparently without feeling the need to hide, to write without fearing who will read it. It's not something I've done particularly well with in the past, but I believe it's a noble goal (and haven't noble goals always appealed to me?), and perhaps more importantly I believe there's a strength to be found there - of particular importance to me, since my first instinct when confronted about anything is to find the nearest rock and clamber under it. I've been under that rock way too many times and it's not a pleasant place to be.

Will writing here help with that? I don't honestly know. I'm wary of pretty words, from myself and others, since they come too easily and mean too little. Judge me on my deeds I suppose. Although so far all I have to show are words...

But this day is not just about me. Happy Birthday Blog! You're six months old today, though I'm not sure what that is in blog years. I wasn't sure what to get for you, so I put together a new theme called "Wend". I hope you like it and that it fits you well.