As we continue on with the countdown to the 1000th post of this blog, I have to say blogging is definitely a learning experience.  Like with anything in life, there is a learning curve.  My first few posts, as I look back at them now, were almost laughable.  I was revealing things that were better left unsaid.  But, I have decided to leave them as they are in their present form.  Why?  To better illustrate the point that blogging can teach us things about ourselves.  For example, I had an interaction with an obnoxious lawyer (yeah, I know some will say that is being redundant, but bear with me).  As I look back at my reply to him, I was shocked at how angry I was.  What was the point of insulting him as he insulted me?  I had lowered myself down to his level (again, lawyer haters, bear with me).  I had been tempted to edit out some of the more verbose exchanges I had with people, such as with the lawyer.  But, I'm going to leave them as they are.  I was experiencing a learning curve in the blogging world.  Over the past seven years (as of April 5 of this year), I have had lots of back and forth with people on this blog.  My dealings with them taught me a lot.  One of the most important things I have learned about blogging is to interact with people as if you were talking to them in the real world.  People are different behind a computer screen.  That's something you learn fairly quickly.

Another lesson I have learned, you get out of blogging exactly what you put into it.  Like with anything else in life, you have to "earn it."  Now, I don't have nearly the comments as I once did here for basically two reasons.  One, I don't participate in other blogs as I once did.  I just am burned out from that experience.  But, that doesn't mean I don't read what they post.  If you want comments on your blog, you have to comment on other blogs.  It's that simple.  Two, blogging in general is in a downward spiral....again.  That doesn't mean that blogging is going to die off.  There will always be a place for a blog in some form or fashion.  But, blogging will never see its heyday as it did at the turn of the 21st Century.  Thusly, less and less people are reading and making comments on blogs.

Something else I learned...just as there are in the real world, there are some outstanding people that blog.  One of those people was a guy who would comment in the early days of this blog.  Matt was blog owner of "Matt-Speak."   He was a dynamite blogger and blogger hasn't been the same since.  I truly miss both him and his sister.  Another guy, who introduced himself, Art Nalley, commented on the Woolmarket series I started.  I ended that series about the middle of January.  I would wager if I had stayed in Woolmarket, MS, Art and I would have been lifelong friends.  I also made a post on AFSOUTH, in Naples, Italy.  That brought people from all walks of life who were stationed there at one time or another.  The biggest shock to me was the son of the Company Commander who I loathed made a comment here.  I hated that man.  But, as I have grown older, that hate, that loathing has left me now.  Everyone is a product of what they have accumulated in experiences over the years.  So, blogging has introduced me to much over the past seven years.  I wouldn't trade the experiences for anything.