Roll Call!

On this, the final day of October, the 31 day writing challenge comes to an end. I made it 30/31 days. If I were being graded, that would be a 97, and that's 'A' work. I'm pretty happy with that.

I thought that now would be a good time to do two things:

#1. Review my goals for blogging

#2. Guilt trip you into commenting

Review my goals for blogging.

As a blogger, I've always had some unofficial guidelines I've tried to abide by. They've adapted over the years as society and culture have changed, but there are a few things I'd like to always have as standards here.

1. I write because I enjoy it. If this ever changes, I need to have the courage to move on. (It's been 11 years since I started blogging, and I'm still here, so don't worry).

2. I never want this to be a place of contention.

3. I will not be ashamed of my faith or my beief system.

4. I will try to be an influence for good.

5. I will always "keep it real." I want my readers to be able to come here and laugh, to read my words and feel relieved, and to never perceive me as fake or intimidating.

6. I will not write negatively about my body (don't mistake writing "matter of factly" with writing negatively, I think there's a difference).

I do not live this creed perfectly, but I do my best! This will be my go-to post for when I need a reminder.

Guilt trip you into commenting

Okay, so we all know commenting isn't the "thing" anymore. I'm guilty, too. It's so much work, with our modern-day luxuries, to type words in a comment box on a blog post. 

I get it, I really do.

But here's the thing, I like to know you're here. It keeps me going! So just this once (and perhaps annually for the rest of time), I'm going to ask you for validation. 

So I'll give you some options.

You can comment "roll call" style and simply say, "Here!" (You don't even have to use capitalization or an explanation point - see how easy I'm making this)?

Or you can answer this question:  If you were going to give a TED talk, what would your subject be? 

Hmmm..... I'm not sure I laid the guilt on thick enough, but in all honesty, I don't think I have to. Because I know how awesome you are, and you don't need any of that guilt nonsense (is this a manipulative tactic right here)?