My 2019 Top Ten Posts

Here we are, on the edge of saying goodbye to another year. 2019 was a year. Politicswise, it was utter hell. Healthwise, it was okay. Lifewise, it was pretty damn busy. So blogwise, it was slow.

I started the year strong. I began a series of blog posts dedicated to finding my new post illness normal. I got a part-time job. I turned 46 and got my very first tattoo.

At some point after that the train sort of came off the track. I was overwhelmed with life. I was tired all the time, my mood plummeted. My creativity was all but gone.

With the help of my doctor I figured out I was knocking on menopause’s door. I am a woman of a certain age, so it wasn’t exactly a surprise. It was jarring, though. It shook me.

The stark realization that I was beginning the next phase of life flipped a switch in my brain. Instead of being sad about getting older, I decided to let that be the flame lit under my middle aged ass that got me to take my time more seriously. Life has been much smoother since then.

I’m ending the year without a job. I decided that I couldn’t do it all, even when some of it was part-time. I’m taking more time for myself in the form of hikes, downtime, and writing. That decision paid off because, after a very dry year submissionwise, I finally got an original post published at Sammiches and Psych Meds.

Hey! I wrote this! https://t.co/0vZ73i9CKg

— Christine, like the car (@SickChristine) December 15, 2019

I took the words of my friend and fellow blogger, Lorna, to heart. I decided to write. Blogging is a long game. Submissions are a numbers game. The only way to get through is to write, often and well. Well, as well as you can. And the more you write, the better you get. The better you get, the more you write.

That’s where you will find me in 2020. I’ll be writing because I am, after all, a writer. And I’ll be submitting and taking rejections as a badge of honor, as the next step toward getting better. But before we get to 2020, you might be so inclined to read my most read of 2019, most of which were not written in 2019.

I told you blogging was a long game. I’m finally in the internet search queue after all this time. Google searches are now the number one way people find me. And these ten posts are the ones they found the most:

1. A South Floridian’s Guide To Moving North
2. When A Predator Is Your Friend
3. Why Would Anyone Live In Florida?
4. My Menopause Bucket List
5. What I Really Think When You Tell Me You Want to Start a Blog
6. Facebook Unfriending, The Easy Way
7. I Need You To Stop Trying To ‘Help’ Me
8. Out of Nowhere
9. There Will Be Marks
10. I Really Hope You Enjoy This

As always, thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading the words I put my heart into. Some of you are the sole reasons why I kept going through this year and why I’m heading into 2020 with a renewed focus on moving forward.

Happy New Year, people. You’re the best.

*Featured image courtesy of Pixabay