Nancy's Point 2020 Blog Challenge

Today I am grateful for this blog, what blogging has and continues to teach me, and the other bloggers that I have come to know and read. Of all the spheres of life I reside in, the blogosphere is one of my favorites. 

One of those bloggers is Nancy at Nancy's Point.  We have never met, but we have been friends on these pages for years. I appreciate Nancy's genuine and honest writing and the thought-provoking questions she poses. I have even had a couple of guest posts on her blog.  Speaking of that, when you read this Nancy, let me know if you would be interested in writing a guest post here on "Habitual Gratitude." 

Each year she puts out a group of questions to other bloggers for a fun "blog challenge." Here are this year's questions and my responses to them.  THANK YOU Nancy for all you bring to your readers and to the topics of breast cancer, grief, and life in these times. Write on!

2020 Blog Challenge Questions:

1. Who are you? Tell us whatever you want about you and your blog.

2. What has been your biggest blogging challenge during this pandemic, and how have you been tackling it (or trying to)?

3. What is something you’ve accomplished with your blog that you’re most proud of?

4. Share two of your best blogging tips.

5. What is one of your blogging goals this year?

6. When things get hard, what keeps you blogging, even if not regularly?

7. What is a dream you have for your blog?

8. Share a link to a favorite post you’ve written that you want more people to read.

1. Lisa Valentine here. I have been blogging at "Habitual Gratitude" regularly since March, 2012. I write about living gratefully. Some days I start already grateful. On other days, the process of writing leads me there. And on some days I can only "act as if." Each post matters. 

2. During the pandemic, there have been days I have lacked the energy to blog. Because I write about living gratefully, I have had to push through some days when I felt there was darn little to appreciate. I always find something, and sometimes what comes out from under a seeming pile of cr** can be pretty genuine.

3. Soon I will be hitting the milestone of 2,500 posts. 

4. Tip #1: Blog regularly and try to set up a regular routine for it, such as time of day, location, etc.

    Tip #2: Be true to yourself and the purpose of your blog. Don't get hung up on ego and numbers.

5. One of my blogging goals this year is to make some changes and updates to "Habitual Gratitude" as a way to celebrate 2,500 posts and all the benefits this writer has gained from being here and sharing my posts publicly. 

6. The writing process keeps me blogging. It reveals what I need to learn--about myself, the world, the current circumstances. "Real writers really write." I no longer say "I want to be a writer." I say "I am a writer!" 

7. I have long dreamed of writing at least one book from the content on "Habitual Gratitude."

8. Here is a link to a post I wrote earlier this spring: Eight Days, Eight Months, Eight Years Ago. It is fitting for the times we find ourselves in, and for this blog challenge. 

This picture honors the writing I have been doing since I was 11 or 12. These are just some of the dozens of journals I have filled with my words, the stories of my life, poems, tough times, wonderful times, facts of historical significance and insignificance. It took me well into my forties before I got more comfortable sharing my writing on public platforms. Now, I do that almost daily. Onward! 

Here is a link to Nancy's Point post about the challenge and it includes a list of other bloggers who have joined. Read on! Thanks again Nancy for this wonderful idea! 

https://nancyspoint.com/calling-all-bloggers-blog-readers-its-a-summer-blog-hop/