Blogs, Blogs and More Blogs

This just in:

I seem to have replaced my obsession with wine with an obsession with sober blogs.  I've recently found a few more that I really like and have added them here on my page.  Makes it much easier for me to find them, see when new posts have been added and share them with anyone who might be reading this.  There are SO MANY out there, I'll never get to them all.

Speaking of people who might be reading this, I'm up to 1248 pageviews (yes quite a few of them are from me clicking on my own blog!)  It's a relatively small number I'm sure but to me it's huge considering a month ago I wasn't sure I wanted anyone to see it.  Now I get so excited with each new pageview and especially when someone comments (yes, I'm talking to you!)  I'm also up to 10 countries and I can't help but wonder if someone in Palestine, Venezuela or Japan is actually reading this and interested or stumbled upon it by mistake?

It took a while to get comfortable but now I am often commenting on other blogs.  Hopefully people won't get sick of me!  I've a had a couple of people who have left just one comment and I'm left wondering if they've been back?  Are they still sober?

When I am falling asleep at night I think about future posts I want to make.  When I have a thought/feeling/experience I imaging writing about it and what I would say. 

Of course the best part is reading someone else's words and feeling like I could have written them myself and this happens on a daily basis!

So is this a healthy obsession?  I certainly think that connecting with others is helpful. I do however feel a strong need for people to like me. I certainly don't want to get wrapped up in feeling self-worth based upon how many hits or comments I get.  I'm sure like all things balance is key. 

That was Unexpected

As I sit here on day 42, exactly 6 weeks from the day I had my last drink, I am thinking about what has surprised me the most so far in this journey.

If you had told me 6 months ago that I would be blogging I would have never believed it.  I have never considered my self a writer and I would have thought of blogging as a chore.  Now as I wake up each morning I am immediately thinking about what I might want to write about.  Things I have learned, experiences I have had.  Those first days I felt like there was so much in my head that I needed to get it out.  Writing about some of my worst drinking experiences was a way to acknowledge them and I can look back to them when I need a reminder. 

Of course I got the idea to start a blog from reading other blogs.  The first blog I stumbled upon during my day 1 hungover internet search was Mrs. D's.  She was telling my story!  Then I found another blog and she was also telling my story.  I sat for hours and hours those first few days reading blog after blog.  My favorites are all listed here on my page and I continue to discover more and more. 

That brings me to possibly the most unexpected and exciting part.  All of these people are in all different parts of the world!  And they are just like me.  I guess living in the United States had led me to think the world revolves around us and honestly I had never given much thought to it and of course when I decided to get sober I had no idea what I would find.

I have to admit that geography is NOT my thing, never was.  I've actually pulled up a map more than once to see where some of these people are.  I find myself wondering about all of these places I've never been.  What's it like there, what time is it there?  Unfortunately, it seems that the prevalence of alcohol is the same everywhere...that's what brings us together!