Oh, how I love my online community.

This post is to welcome Amna into the blogging world, and to tell you dear readers how grateful I am to have started mine.

It wasn't long ago when Boysie had urged me to create a blog. I never thought I’d actually do it with the intention of addressing issues of interest to me. I felt it was more of a personal thought journal. I never had the intention of using it for anything other than personal. It was limited in scope to a few of my good friends and anyone who ended up running into my blog.

Soon, though, it became a vehicle all its own. I was surprise I got readers from all over the world as shown from my counter widget, and more anonymous hits than I thought were possible. I would write about any and everything that came to mind, and people would respond positively.

Tracey stumbled upon my blog and left a comment, so I also checked out her blog and found the recent post surprisingly amazing because of the things she sew during the night that she shared in her post. Over the next few weeks, she left more comments at my blog and I left some at hers. It was so strange to me that 1) someone I'd never met would be interested enough of my rambling to come visit every couple of days and leave a comment, and 2) that I would do the same to someone I'd never met.

But then something weird happened. I now follow lives of people from England, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Scotland, United States, India, among others. I’m subscribed to other blogs, but this particular group is interconnected. Each of these people read and comment on each others’ blogs. And maybe this relationships might even extend into the physical realm as there were those who wish to send cards or package.

If I was told one year ago that I would actually feel some emotional attachment to complete strangers like this, I certainly wouldn’t have believed it. And what’s even more amazing is that these “virtual” friends really do scratch a social itch. The feeling is very much like that in my real life friendships, it’s just that we don’t meet up on Saturday night for scheduled merrymaking or had a coffee during the afternoons.

The tiny little “community” that has grown up around it is one of the most surprising and gratifying things about the whole blogging endeavor. And yes, I also get annoyed when people talk about online life versus “real” life, as if this is all just a Sims-style game, as if we weren’t really connecting with other people. I consider you all to be real friends. Not online friends or some other ridiculous qualifier, but actual honest-to-god friends.

Blogging has been an informative experience for me, not only in terms of what I write and share with you, but also what you write and share with me.

I never even knew what people meant about writing blogs a years ago. Now, I am an addict, hahaha!

Constantly I find myself writing from either a personal or objective stance. It has become a tool for me to become more self-aware, share experiences, give and seek advice, and to record moments of my life. If it wasn’t for you, I never would have dared to embark on this writing adventure.

So to all of you, and you know who you are, thank you for guiding me to the world of blogging!