whadda ya think?

I have had a few email conversations with Dean, and with various bloggers about the importance of commenting and how much they mean to a blogger on practically every post.

We all understand that sometimes readers don't comment because maybe they are in a hurry, maybe they are not in the mood or maybe they just don't think that what they have to say really matters or makes sense. Sometimes people email me because they are leary to say their true feelings out there in public.

As this blog's "owner" I will tell ya my two cents on commenting. I hope that I can encourage you to begin commenting on blogs (not just mine, go post on Dean's too, lol) and also express my thanks to those readers who always or most of the time, make it a point to leave a comment, especially the many that have added my dad to their prayer list.

I can't speak for ALL bloggers, but I will speak for most, commenting is a big deal.

Blogging can vary from being a hobby, to being an obsession, but seems to be something we enjoy. Sometimes it's fun, sometimes it's painful, sometimes it's almost scary to put yourself out there like that to be judged and ridiculed by people that don't know you at all in the "real" world, there are so many reasons to keep a blog, but there is the common thread we all have, it takes guts to say what we say, at times, and we are often proud of our posts. Not all of them, because some are just plain ol' braggin' on kids' posts, but others are often written, re written, and edited many times before we throw them out here. When I was leading the web ministry team at church, one post often took several hours of researching and nit picking before I would post it. I have dealt with anonymous comments that were cut throat and mean, and others that people actually did sign, with very malicious content. But that's okay. I know who I am, and I know what I believe, so being able to differentiate between blog world and MY world is really easy. I don't need validation from my blog. I realize I fail at things, just like everyone else. I know I make mistakes, too.

A comment can be more than just a comment; it's feedback, it's conversation, it's appreciation.

Your opinion may really help someone out, since a lot of our blogs are nothing but VENTING!

So anyway, now I am awaiting wedding photos from Tess Kilcrease of her dad's wedding tonight. She called me for a crash course in photography before heading to McGehee, and I am excited to see how it goes. She is really excited to learn more from me (and my books) about her camera, and she happens to have three gorgeous girls to practice on. (She has a Karsyn too, but hers is Karson!) She is in love with her camera that David got her, so we are well on our way to getting that girl going with manual settings. Go Tess, lol! I have still got to get some time set aside to work with Anna and Ashley with their cameras, too. We have been working on that for months.