This whole blogging "thing" has been so much fun for me, but sometimes it's so very weird. The platform I use, Squarespace, has a wonderful statistics page, where, if I'm so inclined, I can find out how many page views I've received, what content is most popular, when my peak traffic times are...pretty much anything my heart desires. I figured out how to use a geographic location function built into that page, and my mind is blown.
Since I started this blog in October of 2013, it's been read 3,500 times, by over 1,000 unique users. I don't even know 1,000 people! The geography tool has informed me that I have readers across four continents and in a dozen different countries (hello, Bosnia? How's the weather in Chile, friend?). This absolutely baffles me. I don't understand how the heck something so small, so personal, has ballooned the way it appears to have...especially given that, to my knowledge, the only people who even read my blog on the regular are my mom, my college friend Patrick, and my friend Hannah (hi, guys!). Add to that the fact that I have only 2 followers and have, to date, received a grand total of four comments, and this escapade comes to seem really bizarre.
Who, precisely, are you? When I write, when I put these words out here, who sees them? Do they reach anyone? Am I a search-engine statistic or are you, these 1,000 readers, my friends, family and peers? Do you know me? Do you see me every day and carry these insights with you? Can you, for example, commiserate with my love of Caribou cold press or sympathize with my once-broken-now-healing heart? Do you like brunch or have a summer bucket list? The more I think about it, the more odd I find it that you all know these things about me, and yet all I know of you is that you are reading my words from Chicago...Queens...Kansas City...Paris...Cairns, Australia...it's bizarrely one-sided and I wish it weren't.
I would love to know you, mysterious readers. It would be so comforting to know who's out there behind the pageviews, who I'm sharing with. I blog because I love to write, and because I love to share, and because I love to connect. It's so odd to me, this phenomenon of blogging, where I narcissistically share so much and receive so little in return. In truth, I'd love to be able to thank every single one of you for stopping by, even just once, for caring just a little bit and saying "hello," even if it is simply the cyberspace equivalent of a passing nod on a street corner.
Thank you. I love this space, and I am so stunned and grateful that a thousand someones out there have taken the time to share a little of their love too.