Freshly WHAT?

Today I was Freshly Pressed.

Naturally, I called my husband right away, to tell him the good news.

“You were freshly WHAT?!”

I suppose it does sound a little unsavoury, if you don’t know what it’s all about.

It’s something I put on my list of 37 birthday wishes this year, right after Snorkle on the Great Barrier Reef, before See Les Miserables (which is coincidentally coming to Vancouver in June, just in case my husband is reading this). It’s like a pat-on-the-back and a see-you’re-not-just-kidding-yourself-about-this-weird-hobby, all rolled into one.

What I didn’t anticipate, is how incredibly intimidating it is.

WordPress.com is a powerhouse online. They also happen to host my blog. From time to time they pick a blog post to highlight/promote to other bloggers in “Freshly Pressed.” This week I participated in a poetry writing challenge, and my poem was one of the ones chosen. Which is, like, totally awesome (and apparently has me regressing back to my valley-girl days).

All kinds of writers and artists and creative types have read my words. And poked around my blog. And some have even started following it.

Which is wonderful, of course. They’re all very encouraging. I’m kind of amazed at how many there’ve been. I’ve looked at some of their blogs and I’m impressed. I like these people.

The intimidating part, however, is that all kinds of writers and artists and creative types have read my words. Are reading my words. Right now.

And I realize that I start way too many sentences with the words “And” or “But.” And I tend to ramble. And I talk about snot a lot; and other bodily fluids which aren’t nearly as cool as snot. And I rarely post poetry, because it feels more likely to be misunderstood, more naked, than my usual. And part of me wants to duck and hide and change how I do everything from now on.

My words aren’t always pretty.

My life isn’t that glamorous.

My ideas aren’t new.

I’m just me.

But that’s always been the point of this blog. So it’ll have to do. And that’s all there is to it.

So here’s me.

Thanks to Freshly Pressed for the somewhat intimidating, but ultimately thrilling compliment!

And thanks to my long time readers, who’ve given me the confidence to keep trying all this time. I like you best of all!