If I Had a Nickel...

For every person who has said in the past couple months, "You have a way with words..."

Would I be rich?

Well, not monetarily, no.

I'd have 25 cents. If I added to that 5 cents for each of the other comments along the same vein... I'd probably have another 30 cents... so 55 cents accumulated, American.

If I converted that for use here, I'd have a whopping 35p...

Initially, when I decided to blog about my adventure(s) here in England, I was viewing it mainly as a means of recording for myself, this 5.5 months of my life.

But then, a few people really seemed to enjoy reading it and told me so, and well, I guess the writing bug bit me. Again.

I like writing. I really like words. It is fun putting them together to convey a picture or a feeling. For me, here, it becomes a verbal snapshot of a moment in time... so, at worst, a reminder for myself, of all the emotions I experience along the way that would not necessarily be conveyed in a picture. At best, I hope it is somewhat informative, educational and entertaining for all of you... my 6 devoted "followers" and the few others who read but don't want to publicly admit to it!

Yeah. So. Too bad that I can't actually blog and get paid for it because, that would be a really cool way to earn a living. Or part of one...

There is no way that I would want to spend my whole life plunked down in front of a computer... but, at least with my laptop, it is possible to alter my writing environment when I need or want a change.

What I have discovered this last couple of months, is that I truly enjoy working in the woods; the process of harvesting and prepping the various woods for their intended uses. Working with my hands... and the rest of my body too.

Prior to coming to England I had been thinking that at this stage of my life I wanted to be done with all the hard manual labor stuff and just sit at a drawing board and do edible landscape or permaculture designs... that I didn't want to actually get my hands dirty planting them any more. Maybe I still don't, but I guess I am learning to be more and more open to all the possibilities.

In all things.

In all likelihood, none of the things I really like to do will get me rich quick. But then, I don't really want to "get rich" anyway.

What I do want is to find a way to make a modest living by doing work that is meaningful and creative, that honors this amazing earth we live on and that benefits people in ways that promote health of body, mind and spirit... including my own.

I am so excited to be here, learning and experiencing so much, and am enjoying making a record of that here in this blog for myself. That you are reading and enjoying it right along with me adds to the excitement.

To those of you who are "following," publicly or privately and have taken the time to email me or post comments to the blog along the way... thank you for your kind words of encouragement.

So. I have a favor to ask of you.

If you are reading... will you please sign up as a follower?

For one thing, the stats page tells me I have folks in the US, UK, Russia, Germany, Canada, Latvia, Malaysia, Ukraine, France, and Indonesia reading the blog... I'd really like to know if that is true or not.

So far, everyone signed up is from the US. It would be cool to have people from the other countries too!

Everything I've read says that if you really want to "get somewhere" with your blogging that you need to increase your readership... so, would you consider helping me with that?

Both by signing up yourself and by forwarding the link to friends and family you think might be interested?

I'd appreciate it... I really would! Because as one friend said, "you never know!"

So, now that I've asked, my fear is that you won't actually sign up... which would be kind of, I don't know... embarrassing?

We wouldn't want that now, would we?

Think I'll hold off on spending that 35p for awhile and see if I can maybe save up for a large Americano at Cafe Nero for which I'll need 2.30...

with love,
susie