2nd Blogiversary – The Meaning of It All
Today is my 2nd blogiversary. Which is great! I honestly never saw this coming. All of this. All of you. All this fun!
And I thought I would share with you what this blog means to me, because it is more than just words and plants.
A few weeks ago, I was pointed towards a now famous lecture called “Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreamsâ€, which was the last lecture given by a man named Randy Pausch. Dr. Pausch is rapidly dying of pancreatic cancer. If you have time, I highly recommend you watch the whole 1 hour and 15 minute lecture. If you don’t have time, you can watch the 10 minute Oprah Reader’s Digest version and get the gist.
Watching it makes you catalog your own childhood dreams and I thought I would share mine with you.
1. Wearing pink Converse hightops — Why pink Converse?
- Why have I wanted a pair of pink Converse from the age of 13?Â
- Why from 13 until 31 did I not own a pair despite the fact that I always wanted them?
- And why, despite the fact that I only own 4 pairs of shoes, is one of them a pair of pink Converse?
Because my mother said they looked like clown shoes when I asked for them at 13. My mother is a wonderful, practical, part Scottish woman who said you don’t waste money on pink Converse.
But one day I realized that sometimes you do waste money on frippery. Pink Converse are like garden gnomes. They may bring no technical value to the yard but they bring delight and whimsy, which we all need.
Childhood dream accomplished.
2. Owning a convertible — I have many fond memories of convertibles from my childhood. Riding alongside a darling, now long ex-boyfriend who drove a sporty red one, riding in my sister’s making trouble and a number of late night drives looking at the stars with friends who had convertibles.
I finally bought a convertible when the caring, practical people in my life said I should get a minivan. And when that convertible finally died, I bought another. I am the envy of the school pick-up car line and soccer moms. And besides, I have discovered that convertibles are actually very practical.
I know that sometimes, style and substance can co-exist.
Childhood dream accomplished.
3. Become a writer — I shelved this one really early. I wanted to be a writer. I have a 4-year, $40,000 degree in writing. Yet, I had no idea how to become a writer (oddly enough, they don’t teach you this in college).
I wrote a few things and when the rejection letters came I figured that I was not so good at this writing thing. So I gave up. Which you are not suppose to do, but, oddly enough, the electric company does not have a “I am working on becoming the next Great American Writer†line of credit.
And many years later, I started a blog. I knew about running websites. I had lots of websites. Not one of which I cared to show anybody nor could I brag about when I met with my peers. I didn’t think this would be that either. I started a blog because I like to garden and it seemed like a nice place to keep track of a garden.
And then you came and you read what I wrote about my garden. You laughed at what I wrote. So I wrote more. And more. And more.
And I became a writer. And I learned that sometimes dreams happen when you are not looking.
Childhood dream accomplished.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
You helped me do that. You will never know what it means to me and how much I appreciate it.
oh pink converse and convertibles are way better than clogs and minivans. Congrats on the writing too!
Many Happy Returns! I will never forget the day I found your blog about one year ago. I spent the entire weekend reading it from first post to most recent, reveling in your gardening adventures!
By the way, I am achieving a childhood dream — directing a production of Peter Pan the musical with kids flying via stage magic apparatus! I used to play the record and act out all the parts when I was a kid, obviously in preparation for this moment!
dig this chick – Thanks!
Village Green – How very awesome! Break a leg (but not really as that would be painful). I hope it goes over really well. Plus, I hear getting that flying apperatus is no easy feat so you rock on that.
I can’t believe it’s only 2 years! It seems like I have known you so much longer. You still have one of the best names for a blog. Out of all the bloggers I have gotten to know, there are few that I can tell, “I owe you one”. You one of them. Thanks.
Congrats on your second blogiversary (has it only been two years? Really? You’re such a fixture in my blog world.)
I don’t care much for pink or for Converse but I’m right with you on convertibles. I also am on my second. My other two cars were RX-7s.
I think blogging is wonderful because it enables readers like me to find writers like you. I’d rather be reading your site than so many other things. Best wishes for year three.
Way cool! You accomplished all 3 of them.
I just found your blog and love it! Keep up the good work!
Congratulations Hanna! Two years is a long time in the blogging world, and I’m looking forward to watching your blog develop over the next two years.
I like convertibles too! We just don’t have enough warm sunny days here being so far north. Someday when I live in a warmer climate, I’m going to get one too.
I love reading your blog. Informative, scientific, human, rich — your writing has substance and texture and complexity.
Thank you for sharing with us, I am one of many quiet devotees, and we are all very appreciative of your excellent writing.
You’re welcome, and thank YOU.
While I am too lazy to be a writer, yes Virginia it is work, I do own a pair of pink converse! Not many straight men can make that claim. I also love flowers and baby animals. As for the dreams, growing up with out a father, I always wanted a son who would grow up strong and have an independent mind. On this I did rather well. He is 25 and now lives around one hour away. He loves music and nature, although the gardening bug never took. On a similar note I read an article, years ago, which said “Whatever made you happy as a child , will make you happy as an adult”. This is why I bicycle, hike, skate, and garden. Long live childhood dreams.
Yay Hanna! This blog is now a babbling, screaming and very entertaining toddler who pulls hair and breaks things, but then totally melts your heart by giggling and flashing a big gap-tooth smile.
This overwrought cliche of a metaphor is not worth continuing, methinks. But really, congratulations.
This entry was so sweet! Hanna, you are an inspiration and totally witty. I’m a 28 year old city-gardner and love how you are informative without seeming snobby or definitive. I feel like I have a gardening friend out there, and the overzealous things I do (like starting 9 types of tomato seeds, 36 seedlngs, when I only have room for 5 plants) don’t seem so crazy.
Happy Blogiversary – I just discovered you this week, but have spent a lot of time reading your posts…Happy Gardening!
And what a writer you are! Truly, I love your blog and I suspect I would read anything you wrote, even if it were about, say, curling or math. You could probably make even that interesting!
Congratulations, Hanna.
…i “found you” several months ago and read you regularly…i like your blog over others because (1) you seem so genuine, and (2) you’re a wonderful writer. I think you gave up too early on your writing career…
You are a wonderful writer and I look forward to reading more of your entries. The post about the dirt was great, I never knew that! I was reading it to my co-workers. Happy Blogiversary!
You guys are all sweet to say all of those things! Thanks to everyone for all of your support.
Let me add to the chorus: has it really only been two years? Time flies when you’re having fun reading Hanna’s blog!
Hanna–
This post meant a lot to me. I’m 51 years old, been around, done many worthwhile things; but I’ve never engaged myself as a writer the way I thought I would as a young girl–until about 3 weeks ago when I started blogging.
I was inspired to get going by the new gardening year and especially by the exuberance of seed starting. But I’m so glad I subtitled my blog “garden talk…and more,” because every manner of thing that matters to me is finding its way there.
Thanks for sharing what blogging has meant to you. And congratulations on your second anniversary! I will most definitely be back.
DJ
And, thank you Hanna, for giving us such a good read.
Love those shoes, and that car!!!
Just found your blog and really love it. Congrats on your two year anniversary. I guess I thought convertibles weren’t practical either ~ guess I need to rethink that one as I’ve always wanted one too! Here’s to many more years blogging!
I love this post. Can relate to it so well. I came to look at your writing style — recommended in my blogging class as a great example — and found this post by click and miss. Only it wasn’t a miss.
Your theme here is one very dear to me. I encourage people — especially women — to unlock the dreams that got stuffed away while a big chunk of life came and went. The passions of our youth may get shelved, but they don’t disintegrate. And it’s NEVER too late to start until we stop dreaming and doing. I wrote a short post about this in my blog: http://paintedgenerations.com/blog/2008/06/childhood-dreams-fulfilled/
I’ll come back… I don’t garden much, but I like how you think. 🙂
Barb