Ripples In The Pond Of Life

We are all but ripples on the pond of life. We simply hope that we create enough stir to get noticed before we fade away. Today marks my 400th post of Ruby's Musings...well actually, truthfully, it is 399 as I deleted one. I am celebrating like it is #400. I swear it snuck up on me just this last week that I had reached that number. I was awe struck. I truly never knew it would reach that number. 

When I began my blog towards the end of May of 2010, as a decor blog, a blog of how too's and pretty photos, it was something to do to kill the time while being stuck in the apartment we had recently moved into. We were broke, and had sold most everything we owned, including beloved antiques, and we had lost our 1922 cottage to the bank. I was lonely, and I was depressed. Friends and family said to me I should jump on the blogging band wagon, even if I had nothing really to say. My first post was about pictures of silverware as art. My followers were friends and family, and most did not read or really care. It was a hobby, I was always taking up hobbies or fiddling with my decor, why not combine the two. Nothing ever sticks with me, fickle is the word I believe many used. Even when I had to give up my antiques to possibly fit into a shoebox apartment, I just told my friends and family that I was happy to do so and I was ready for a new environment and a sleeker look, decorating was my hobby after all, and I was indeed fickle, liking far too many things; blogging as stated above, simple followed all this, a fickle endeavor.

Before too long, I had decorated my apartment with treasures found at Goodwill, Ross, and clearance shelves. I changed it every few months, always tweaking something, sometimes just so I would have something to blog about. Eventually I hit a wall. So I began to share my walks, beauty regiments, and very quickly shopping trips and daycations. When things became even worse for my husband and myself, I then shared my journey through depression, as well as my pursuit of happiness. Every so often I even threw in a recipe or two, especially when I simply was too drained to share a single word of the pain I was living with and in. I so many times did not feel like posting, but forced myself to post nearly each and every day, it was a life line. If I typed it out, if I put it in writing, someone would see the ripple I was trying to create on the pond of life and take notice....sometimes it worked...other times that ripple faded and  was no more. I did my very best to make myself be seen and heard, but being one to color outside the box, I did not wish to follow the rules of just so many words, a lot of photos, and linking to every form of promotion for blogs known to man. I too quality over quantity of followers as well as what I posted. I followed my heart and I changed the look, the feel, the theme if you will of Ruby's Musings. 

As I followed what was in my heart, it opened up new doors, lead me to new online circles of friends, renewed my spirit as well as re-awakening past passions. I took the pressure off myself, took the expectations of new followers, comments having to be made on each blog and let go of all the rules as to content. I changed everything about the blog and in doing so bit by bit I too changed. No longer needing it like a crutch to get through the day, I relaxed. I started to have fun with it, and apparently so did my fans. I still do not get many comments, I do not have a lot of followers, and I see that often people land on my blog through crazy Google searches. I am happy with all that, just as it is. 

There has been a few times during the last 400 posts that I have tried to use my blog for myself in what may seem a selfish, nearly degrading manner. I am not proud of it, but I new of no other way, once again to have my ripple seen. When I found out that my teeth were not saving, that I was going to have to live with the fear of biting into even a piece of toast and a tooth could fall out or crumble in the process of eating. I begged my readers to write into The Ellen Show, and a few others on my behalf. It did not work apparently as I still have not gotten a call. I still have the page attached to this blog in hopes....but I have stopped hinging the future on it. I do still have the fears and the daily pain is at times debilitating, but I have found ways to cope and to still smile through it (with help of photo shop, the reader even gets to see me smile with a toothy grin). I started to focus less on myself needing help, and promotion, and every so often decided to use my love of the written word ( obvious isn't it?) to promote others, be it an author whose book I loved reading,and recently my daughter's stories of triumph, love, and yes, need of wedding help....of which we got prayers, always appreciated, and we are grateful, but it was of course not as I had hoped would happen. 

Last Monday I did a post to tell a brief story of my cousin's husband Donnie Strunk that was dealing with a rare form of blood cancer. I shared how they both inspire me to stay positive, fight  for myself, my family and to believe and of course have faith. I wanted to see if I could garnish some more donations for the half marathon they are both running in June, God willing, for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. I included links, and I promoted the heck out of the blog. There was a couple lovely friends of mine who offered up prayers, but past that the ripple started to dissipate...or so I thought. On one of the occasions that I tweeted about the post, an author friend of mine, H.P. Oliver, shared the link and another author friend of his, saw it and was reading the latest post when he scrolled down and read the post about Donnie. I then received this tweet...  "You never know how your actions will ripple in the pond of life. Your story about the Strunk family touched me personally. TkU ". The use of the phrase of course really struck me. I told him I was so happy, and  I thought that was the end of it, hoping perhaps that he would give a donation, even a small one. I thought not much about it after that. Then a day later, late in the evening my cousin sent me a text and told me that I had done an amazing thing. They had received a good size donation. They had met their goal, and passed it. I will not name names and I shall not tell the amount as I am not sure that the gentleman wishes it to be widely known.    What is known, and what I can share about him is that he is an angle on this earth and through his donation made not only Donnie and my cousin over joyed and believe even stronger in the power of faith and prayer, but also made me feel as if I had made a difference, just in starting the ripple that lead to his donation. My actions brought reactions, and after all that is why  I do this blog and will continue to do so. 

Somebody once asked me..make that far more many times than that...why I blogged and what I wanted to see come of it. I know that for many it is fame and fortune for doing something that they love. Some it is to see how big of a following they can get,  and still others it is a combo of the two. There are those that do it to help others, teach others, and also to be part of something bigger; join the "club" that the blog world creates. Many follow the rules, stay within the lines, attend works shops and conventions. I never could give an answer that seemed to appease the askers, or fellow bloggers. My answer was that I wished to make myself smile, and if I could do that, help to inspire, motivate and make others smile in the process I was indeed reaching my goal and getting what I wanted from the blog. If I could help make other peoples ripples in the pond of life last a little longer and be seen, then that to me was payment enough, my fortune would be built on good carma and paying it forward. 

So as I come to the end of this 400th post, a small book in it's own right at this point, I just wish to say I am so appreciative of all you who follow me, be it here, on facebook, Twitter, or any of the other sites I am linked to. I am happy even if you just pop in via a search engine on your way to somewhere else, and even if you only pop in once and I made even a small difference in your day....you make me smile because I know you saw my ripple in the pond of life.

*all images were google found looking for women at typewriter 1920's