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by annegallagher

And Now, A Message from Our Sponsor

Graphic depiction of number of posts per year ...

Image via Wikipedia

Regular readers of Anne On Fire know there is no sponsor for this small blog.  However, after six months of regular posts it seemed appropriate to take a commercial break from the storyline to update readers on a couple of things.  First, we just hit our 3,000th view.  This seems, well, ridiculously miniscule given all the big bloggers out there.  But when Anne on Fire started, I wasn’t sure it would make it past its second post.  Now, there have been dozens of posts (hopefully not too many but as in the story of the Three Bears, something “just right”) and more importantly,there have been more comments than posts.  In fact, more than double the comments for each blog post.  This either tells me people like to comment, or that there is a wonderful support network out there, or that maybe these posts hold the interest of our dear readers – or some combination of all of the above, none of the above or just some good stuff.

 Also on the good news front, my critique professional “K” let me know she saw some hope in moving ahead with the Anne on Fire book.  This is certainly encouraging and certainly means more work for me on that front and more posts to come as the blog continues to be the platform for research and an unfolding storyline.

And now, back to our regularly scheduled blogging…….

by annegallagher

Minimize, Maximize or Somewhere In Between

I was talking to my friend Merry about writing this blog and putting together a book about the burned leg. She has heard bits and pieces of the story over the years, and I was explaining how this is the compilation of those various storyline threads. “It must be very emotional for you doing this,” she said. “Not so much,” I replied. “Have you thought of getting counseling to work through the issues this has brought up?” she sincerely asked. “Well, not really. The most profound effect so far has been my understanding how this has affected others, like my parents rather than me.” I continued. “I guess if I hadn’t been able to live as full a life as I have, I might have been bitter or felt I had more issues, but that hasn’t been my story.” She sighed. “You are minimizing this,” she replied. Her comment has lingered with me for a couple of weeks. Minimized? I wonder if that is because I’ve never maximized it. I wonder if things can happen to you and you are be generally okay with them, find meaning in them, even inspiration sometimes. What I am writing isn’t pure Pollyanna at all but what I want people to take away is that there is a resolution to everything so long as you open the door to seeing beyond your narrow self. Still, I wonder if part of the effect of any injury is to either bawl your head off or to pretend it isn’t so bad. Or, can you live with a comme ci, comme ca middle-of-the-road feeling?

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by annegallagher

Liz. The name is Liz. Just Liz.

I had the good fortune yesterday to meet with Liz Strauss (www.successful-blog.com), blogging expert extraordinaire. My friend Louise who knows of my efforts to blog and write a book on my burned leg experiences, called saying just this: “Google the word “Liz”. Just Liz.” Hurumphing all the way, I did. And bang, up came Liz’s blog information. Impressive and mighty well optimized, I might say. So I looked forward to lunch. I took notes. Lots of notes. Liz told me that one of the most searched terms, if not the most searched term in this cybersphere, is “Starting Over” — that people are hungry for ways to reinvent, remake, reconfigure themselves. Liz thought my project has potential in that regard. I’ll take potential. One of the things I’m realizing (and this adds to the comment Kris Plendl made on this blog yesterday) is that getting in motion sets things in motion.

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