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Sunday, November 8, 2015

It's a WILD 10 Year Blogiversary Celebration!


Hello, and welcome to a WILD 10 Year Blogiversary Celebration! Ten years ago -- November 9, 2005 -- I wrote my very first blog post. At the time my blog was called Daytips for Writers, and since I had young children at the time, I thought, well, hey, it's not much, but a tip a day -- I can do that.

And so I did!

1301 posts later.... my blog has continued to evolve as my life has changed and as I've grown as a writer -- may it always be so! The current incarnation "Live Your Poem" still feels like a good fit for me, so I will keep going with that as I enter my next 10 years as a blogger. Who knows where this old blog will take me next?

Blogging really is a wonderful practice, and over the years I have found it to be a grounding force in my life. It keeps me connected to the rest of the world when my writing life is most often intensely solitary. It also keeps me writing, even when I'm feeling disenchanted or bored or overwhelmed in my "other" writing life. It's just good medicine.

 But the best part -- THE BEST PART -- is all the wonderful people I've gotten to know! What passion! What inspiration! What JOY. Which is why I've invited all my blogging friends to be my special, honored party guests and contribute a blog post on the theme of WILD (my 2015 One Little Word). What better way to celebrate this milestone than with the community that makes it such a meaningful, rewarding experience?! Hugs and kisses and storms of confetti to all of you! Thank you for making the blogosphere a beautiful space.

As for my offering, I want to share a couple of quotes from THIS SIDE OF WILD by Gary Paulsen. Paulsen is perpetually on my Ideal Dinner Party list, and I adore everything he writes about dogs and survival and the wilderness. This new memoir includes some funny bits and some touching bits, and everyone should read it. Enjoy!

BUT FIRST:



14 Things I've Learned in 10 Years of Blogging

14. Pictures really are worth a thousand words.

13. Short really is sweet.

12. You can take a break from blogging, and the world won't stop turning.

11. In fact, you can take a break from blogging, and you will be welcomed instantly back into the fold.

10. I am not alone.

9. In fact, there are lots of people who love the things I love, all over the world. Blogging helps me find those people.

8. A blog post doesn't have to be perfect. A poem doesn't have to be perfect.

7. In fact, readers appreciate being allowed a glimpse of your imperfections.

6. You can waste a lot of time looking at the numbers (Google analytics, anyone?), when the numbers aren't what's important.

5. What's important is what you are going to post TODAY.

4. What's important is the one person who will read your post and find exactly what they needed to read TODAY.

3. What's important is reading other people's blogs.

2. What's important is leaving that comment that just might make someone's day.

1. What's important is sharing a little bit of who you are with the world.


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...and now, I give you Gary Paulsen!



"I have written much about the woods, being in the woods, being in nature, as it was for me a very real kind of sanctuary - a safe place. A truly safe place. A beautiful place. And yet...

And yet.

I have been attacked by moose, charged by bear, run down by feral dog packs, struck by rattlesnakes, bump-attacked by sharks... even put on top of my car by an angry weasel not much bigger than my thumb. (I thought, later, that he might have rabies, but at the time I merely jumped in fear.)

It's just that those things don't seem to have the weight, the measureless beauty of countless sunsets and dawns, the simple grace and clear glory of nature. And besides, often it is the bad things that turn out to be the best. I fell off a dogsled down a frozen waterfall and landed on sharp ice on a kneecap. It was so agonizing, I thought, seriously that my heart would stop. But I found that my whole dog team loved and worried about me so much, they curved downstream and worked back to me to surround me as I lay clutching my lacerated knee, whimpering and pushing their warm bodies against me. I remember the love, the dog love, much more than the shattered knee...."

Isn't that beautiful? And true! For more, here's an interview with Gary.

And now for the best part of this party: YOU! Please leave your WILD links below. Thank you!!!


An InLinkz Link-up

Wow. This may be my longest post ever! THANK YOU FOR READING!!! xo

41 comments:

  1. Oh, my, that story about dog love made me all verklempt. Happy blogging, Laura!

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    1. Yes, Gary Paulsen knows his dogs, doesnt he? Thank you!

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  2. Because short is sweet, and you are not alone, I will say only this: Happy Blogiversary!

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  3. Congratulations! Hope you blog for many more years!

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    1. Thank you, Ruth...I honestly cant believe it's been 10 years. Time flies wihen you're blogging... xo

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  4. Here's to the next 10! Thanks for the 14 bloggie truths, and the Gary Paulson goodness, too. Oh, and here's to being wild, too! - XO

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  5. Congratulations, Irene! #12 might possibly be the most important...it's necessary that we all take stock in the TRULY important things! Wishing you many more years of writing and blogging.

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    1. Yes, you are so right. Happy blogging to you, Matt, and thanks for sharing in the wild fun!

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  6. I just started This Side of Wild; the serendipity gives me shivers! Congratulations on your ten years, Irene. Love all that you shared, those truths and a bit of Gary Paulsen, also someone wild.

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    1. Linda, our reading lives are often overlapping, aren't they? Love it! (I'm reading The Thing about Jellyfish right now!) Thank you for sharing in the celebration. xo

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  7. Happy, Happy 10 Year Blogiversary, Irene!! Thanks for the 14 Things and the beautiful Gary Paulsen quotes. Congratulations on a wonderful milestone, and I look forward to your next 10 years of blogging. :)

    I hope you don't mind, but Eloise wanted to attend your wild party. She's my alter ego, my wild inner child who still dreams of living at the Plaza.

    My post will go live at 6 a.m. tomorrow morning, to coincide with Kay Thompson's birthday.

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    1. Oh, Jama, I am smiling so big at the thought of your inner child Eloise joining in the fun. Thank you! I am excited to read your post. xo

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  8. Dear Irene, I'm so grateful to witness, even play a small part in your adventurous journey—the poem you live day to day. Congratulations on ten years... cheers to many, many more to come. xo

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    1. So grateful to know you, Michelle! Thank you for being a part of this day. xo

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  9. I like #4 in particular -- those ripples we can't see! So glad to have met you on your journey, Irene! :-) xoxo

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    1. Oh, Tabatha, my soul-sister... you have been rippling me since the first post of yours I ever read. How you inspire! Thank you for sharing in this day. xo

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  10. Your list is all kinds of perfect. I subscribed to #13 and #14 today. And #8 :-)

    Happy Blogiversary. You got here a few months before we did -- it's been an amazing 10 years! I'm glad to have spent so many Fridays with you, and so many hours with your books!

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    1. Yes, Mary Lee, I noticed 13 and 14 in your post... but not 8, because that poem IS perfect! What wild thing will you and Franki do to celebrate your 10th??? So happy to know you! xo

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  11. I'm so glad you're wild and that you're here. Who better to join you on a post about wild than Gary Paulsen, another writer who so magically explores all we can be. Thank you, Irene! Cheers!! xx

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    1. Same to you, my friend: I'm so glad you're wild and that you're here! Thank you for sharing in this day. xo

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  12. O dear anniversary, Irene,

    You didn't know you wrote tip #13 for me, did you?
    And I want to take tip #13 to heart.
    But, I can't.
    At this moment.
    There's more.

    I didn't know this Gary Paulsen book
    - appreciations for sharing the kneecap iced
    waterfall (it gave me a flash about hearing
    James Dickey read once, from his watefrall
    scene in DELIVERANCE, but there were no
    canine comfort compaions...)

    The comments are all so wildly loving -
    news about an alter ego for Jama, other lovers
    of the mood 'verklempt.'

    And all the wild sounding teasers in
    tiny linky boxes make me want to abandon
    my daily deadline & visit immediately with

    Wild about Antartica,
    Flukeprints,
    Common Periwinkle &
    more...
    I want to go thru all their doors.

    And now I have my gift box to add
    to your devoted wild bunch.

    Happy 10A all day & beyond.

    Application of #13 begins...
    tomorrow.

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  13. Ha, Jan! You are delightful as the flower you were wearing the day I met you. :) Yes to #13... beginning tomorrow! Thank you for sharing in this day. xo

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  14. Happy anniversary, Irene! TEN YEARS is quite an accomplishment. I'm so glad WE have become acquainted during that time! Wishing you all the best today and always!

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    1. So happy to know you, Sylvia, Queen of Poetry (and now a robot! :)! Thank you for stopping by. xo

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  15. Congratulations! What a wonderful milestone! I absolutely love your list. I think I've learned a few of these things from blogging too. I sometimes wonder why I blog and over and over again the answer comes to me--it's the people! It's you! I hope you enjoy your special day.

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    1. Yes, Liz -- the people! YOU! Sometimes I lose my enthusiasm and wonder why, just like you. And then I remember! Thanks for being a part of this celebration. xo

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  16. Congratulations, Irene! What great blogging tips too and interesting run in with animals by Gary. This is a wild celebration.

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    1. Catherine, thanks for sharing in this day! Gary has SO MANY STORIES. Many of them I am happy to read about with no need to actually experience. But every now and again his (and others'!) words push me out of my comforts to experience something new and a little bit wild. Isn't that what life's all about? xo

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  17. I especially like #9 in your wonderful list. Great quote from Gary Paulsen and so fitting for today's celebration.
    Congratulations, Irene! Here's to the next 10 years!

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  18. Yes, Sheri! Here's to community! Thank you for sharing. So happy to know you. xo

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  19. Hello Irene,

    Congratulations on your Ten Years Blogiversary! You are an inspiration! Thanks for inviting me to your party. All best wishes to you in this wild year and going forward.

    Tamera

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    1. Thank you, Tamera! I appreciate you sharing in the celebration. So happy to know you! xo

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  20. Chiming in a bit late with my wild musings. Happy 10th and here's to many more! I do love your monthly virtual gratitude list #everybrilliantthing. It's a great example of that all important #1 on your list - sharing a little bit of who you are with the world.

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    1. Dear Ramona, so happy you stopped by! I love the way you share yourself with the world on your blog, too! The #everybrilliantthing list has been such a wonderful practice for me. Not sure what i will do next year! xo

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  21. Irene, congratulations on a 10 year run as a blogger. I am a relative newbie to the blogging scene but love the idea of blogging as a regular writing routine. I started when I retired from an administrative post in public education in July 2013. A Retirement State of Mind was my first post. When I found the Poetry Friday community I felt I found my home. I honor your accomplishments over the years and celebrate your growth as a poet and writer. I will take up your challenge and write wildly for a link-up.

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    1. Yes, Carol, the Poetry Friday community is WONDERFUL! So happy you are a part of it. Thanks for joining the WILD fun!

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  22. Came her via Augusta's recommendation. Pictures are so important (learned from Joyce Hostetter. I think you may know her) and I definitely need to think short and sweet. AM a Gary Paulsen fan too (who isn't?) I think my blog readers follow my blog because I share my writing journey, and thoughts about books with them. So, I guess I'm sharing myself.

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    1. Hi Carol -thanks for stopping by! Yes, you are most definitely sharing yourself... and in your newsletter, too, which I have long enjoyed. Hugs to you and Joyce!

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  23. So many friends. So much wilderness in this beautiful Litosphere. Congratulations, dear Irene. Thank you for wrapping your loving arms around all of us. <3

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