This kind of thinking is so typical of Walt Disney and is most likely one of the keys to his success.

I just moved the blog every day goal to the place where finished goals are posted. at_this_link.

FINISHED! WOW! (Finally!)

This blog project was different from usual writing or journaling projects because I was trying to involve other people AND there was a daily committment, no matter what!

The fact that anyone participated was the credit of the PassPorter site, which attracts so many people. We gather in various places online and in real-time. The photo below is a small, but sincere group of PassPorters who met in The Magic Kingdom just a few weeks ago.



You should have seen how we managed to find each other from locations all over the parks before the lights went off for the fireworks! We tracked locations on cell phones until we managed to end up in The Rose Garden. Recognizing each other from photos in signatures or book bios, a stranger rushing past became an online "friend" to be called over. There was also the "I'm in a white T-shirt with an orange shirt over that and I'm waving my arms." method of locating someone. It was all very interesting.

How do you find people, anyway?

There are so many ways to attract a group and motivate people to come together.

Finding people who want to participate in a long term blog was just as interesting, especially when the blog was SO hard to find. (Sorry, I was not able to fix the remoteness of The Blog Zone Link during this project.)

So, the first big challenge was finding people in this strange place we call cyber-space. This was important because mu goal for this blog was interactive writing.

The next big challenge was keeping myself and the group of people focused over a LONG period of time on a topic that set out to be optimistic and inspiring. I suppose that, when you aren't paying attention, it is easy to miss those "BLAH" days. When I sat myself down to write in the midst of blah, tired, or cranky, I gained some insights into the less sparkly me.

In hindsight, perhaps readers would have felt more comfortable posting their "blah day" feelings here in comments instead of private messages if I'd been more honest with my own "blah"ness. Who knows?

I also learned that moving forward, even if self-doubts, exhaustion, or a headache drags at my feet is key to finishing what I've started with the same quality that I envisioned at the start. This is the focus and momentum that, I believe, I've strengthened during this project.

Well, this was, in a way, writing, but it is not the books that I dream of one day having on book shelves.

What has interfered with writing those books?

1: The concern that I won't find the people who are interested enough to read it.
2: The ability to stay focused on what, essentially must be a long-term project with the possibility of very little reward other than the fact that I've finished/
3: Keeping up the momentum when the first two issues are on my mind.

If this blog is any indication, I think I should find about 10 people to read my book , but I also know that I will be happy if those 10 people got something out of it. (I know, people, I'm not planning on quitting my day job!)

So, this will be my next project...to finish a book the RIGHT way.

Oh, yes, and to exercise more, and to finish my trip report and to decorate the rest of my house and to get my gardens looking nice and to finish a few articles and maybe start a doctoral degree and........

sigh........

here we go again!

Thanks for spending this past year with me!