Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Happy Birthday To LifePrints - My Little Bloggy Is One!

Last spring my husband said, "This guy at work say it's possible to make tons of money with a blog. Why don't you think about starting one." Filled with visions of millions of Google Adsense dollars I went on a learning binge to figure out what the blogging hype was all about. Within a few weeks, my brainchild, LifePrints was born. So much easier and faster than the creation of my other children! That took nine months and some hard labor at the end.

A year later, I can proudly say that I love my little bloggy. She doesn't make me much money. Adsesnse will never pay my bills and I don't care. It's okay because what I've gained by spending time with 'her' is so much more valuable than ad clicks. My fellow writer/bloggers probably get understand thise but for those who are shaking their heads, let me explain...

Because of LifePrints and it's focus on the positive, my world view has slowly shifted from 'we are hopelessly doomed" to "wow! we can make this work if we just try". Because of my constant search for topics and people to write about I always have my ear to the ground for the good things in life. That's a huge paradigm shift for me.

When I wrote about the maimed children of Sierra Leone I cried as I typed and when I wrote about the fun of spontaneous pillow fights, I laughed out loud and couldn't wait to attack my brood with a big fluffy one when they walked in the door. Writing for my blog has opened my eyes to different views of the world and all the emotions that come along with them.

I now have friends and collegues all over the world. My favorites are in Malta, Paris, Perth, New York, Virginia, California, and Illinois. And some I'd like to put on this list but I'm not sure where they live. Someday I hope to meet a few of them in person and thank them for their kindness and generosity of spirit.

Constantly writing articles forces me to hone my skills, not the least of which are the research and development of ideas. Even though I've cut back on how often I post these days, I look forward to each and every time I sit down with LifePrints. I'm pushing 200 posts in my archives and I'm proud of the quality I've produced so far.

I love my readers and the interactions with them. I love comments, so please leave more and more. The back and forth flow of ideas is facinating to me. Blog Catalog sends many of you my way. They are an energetic bunch and I am happy to be part of that community. For those of you who find me by accident, thank you for reading and bless you heart. I'm sure you were surprised if you were searching for an article about "homemade plasma gasifiers". or "think thank thunk". Don't laugh, some poor soul ended up here using those search terms. All I can say is I hope you come back again.

If you have ideas for posts or know someone doing a good turn for the world, please let me know. I'd love to hear about them. I hope to keep my little bloggy alive for many years to come and if 'her'growth in one year is any indication of the future, it will be an exciting ride filled with many opportunities....and I don't mean big checks from adsense. Sorry Google, I love you but....

Happy Birthday to my little 'girl'. She's not a baby any more!

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am very proud of you and have definately enjoyed reading your posts. Hard to believe it has been a year!!! Time does fly!

Love you,
Tina

myonlyphoto said...

Oh I think I am first, unless someone else is typing faster than me. Happy Birthday Blogging Lisa, lol, this is so cool. Your contribution and quality of articles are always appreciated. The blogging world is proud of you! Anna :)

Francis Scudellari said...

Happy Birthday Lifeprints! It's definitely been a richer blogosphere since you made your debut :).

Lisa, I've had a very similar experience with blogging (although I'm currently off in a different direction than where I started), and I'm glad we crossed paths along the way.

I really appreciate all the wonderful writing you're doing here and I'm looking forward to another uplifting year of Lifeprints.

Unknown said...

Is there cake??? Oh, I love cake; and pie. Oh, I really love pie.

Oh yeah, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! May there be many more to come.

Lisa McGlaun said...

Tina,

Love you, too! Yes, a year does fly and look how much things change, especially in your life!

Hugs and see you next month,
Lisa

Lisa McGlaun said...

Anna,

I think my cousin Tina beat you to it by just a few hours..:) She's quick on the draw! Thank you for your kind words. I count you among my friends.

Hugs,
Lisa

Lisa McGlaun said...

Francis,

You're my bud! Thank you for the friendship. Did you notice your home state in my list? I hope so.

Peace,
Lisa

Lisa McGlaun said...

Jerry,

I can bake a cake as quick as a wink! I love cake and pie, too..especially pie. Thanks for the good wishes.

Same back to you,
Lisa

Charlotte Rains Dixon said...

Hi Lisa, Happy Birthday! I enjoyed stopping by and catching up with your blog--loved the excerpt from you memoir.

One year's worth of great work.

Charlotte

Robert A Vollrath said...

My Life Print would be that I saved as much of the world as I could with my imagination and this would fondly be remembered by my grandchildren.

Lisa McGlaun said...

Charlotte,

Thanks! It's so good to see you dropping by. I spoke on Blogging and writing at my local library the other day and I mentioned you and provided the link to your blog as an excellent example of how to run one of these things.

Best Wishes,
Lisa

Lisa McGlaun said...

Robert,

It's good to know that you are leaving a legacy that will be cherished. I looked at your blog. You're stories are touching and the art work is very effective. Nice.

Peace,
Lisa

Ellen said...

Lisa, Congratulations to you!!

You know how much I enjoy your posts, so definitely hope there will be many years to come!

Thanks too for describing so beautifully the positive spirit your blog brings you; it made me realise once more that my blog brings me exactly the same..

I've been having some trouble lately finding the inspiration to start writing again, but the happiness and positivity you're sharing here is a big step in the right direction!!

thanks again, and a big hug to you!!

Ellen

Anonymous said...

Way to go sweetheart! You are, as always, an insipration to me. Love you!!!

Anonymous said...

Happy bloggy birthday!

Peter said...

Hi! You took the words right out of my mouth with your post as I also feel the same way.

Happy birthday and may Adsense be kind to you and your family.

Try to remember us when you make your first million! Hope that won't take long!

Take Care!
Peter

Lisa McGlaun said...

Peter!

I'll never foget you. You're my Aussie buddy! Have a great weekend.

Lisa

Anonymous said...

Happy Birthday LifePrints!!!