A to Z Reflections Post - Walt Disney World
As a final hurrah to the A to Z Challenge, they have asked us to do a reflections post about our experiences during the challenge. So here we go, the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth!
I got turned on to the challenge by my friend Katy at The Suddenly Kate Show and jumped in with both feet first! I started off-topic with a dedication to my beloved Zander, who was born on April 1, 1997, "B" through "Y" was all about my chosen topic of Walt Disney World, and "Z" was a dedication to Zachy-pooh, so this challenge was very personal because it combined my two favorite things, my pups (passed and living) and Walt Disney World!
I had a very hard time keeping my posts short (obviously!) and I had an even harder time restricting my topics for each letter but, in the end, I decided that it was more important to get my full thoughts completed, length be damned!! I didn't attract a lot more followers, but that's totally fine. For one thing, I was number 1501 on the list, so I'm sure most people (myself included) haven't made it that far down the list yet, and, for another, I don't really relish the thought of having a lot of people following me anyway...I am a total social-phobe after all!
Like I said, I'm still scanning all the blogs (I'm only in the 1200's), but I have found a few amazing ones! Even though I thought Disney would be a popular topic, I only ran across one other blog so far that was also about WDW, Nicki Elson's Not-So-Deep Thoughts. But funnily enough, she and I had a lot of the same topics (great minds think alike!). I also found a few that shared my work experiences, Grumpy IT Guy comes to mind, and Theresa's Tales of Teaching Tribulations and Typing Teen Texts did her blog on bands of the 80's, most of her choices I totally agreed with and it made me glad to know I'm not alone in my love for the great new wave and obscure bands of the 80's. I did find it odd that people kept commenting that they haven't listened to those bands in years, I guess I'm stuck in a decade, I still listen to that music (as well those bands new stuff) everyday! Since the humor of others most times just annoys the crap out of me, it was nice to see that there are others out there that share my dark sense of sarcastic humor and that could actually make me laugh (and trust me, it's a massive feat)!
About mid-stream, I read that the organizers issued another challenge to reach 100 followers. I didn't start this challenge to gain followers...it was more about me compiling my love of Disney World into organized groups - like the typical OCD'er I am, but I still found the very idea of blogging to add followers a bit off-setting to be honest. I felt like they were taking something fun and turning it into a competition which I guess was the original goal of the Challenge to win it, but at no point was that my personal goal (besides, I've never won anything in my whole life...why start now?). My blog has always been about me and my trials and tribulations, my loves and hates, in a nutshell it's about my world, as small as it is and this challenge was specifically about one of my passions, Disney World. I'm not writing to appeal to the masses (obviously, or I wouldn't offend so much!) and I definitely don't want to feel like I have to be funny 24/7 to keep others happy or to appeal to new people. A social-phobe on a stage...yeah, that's really gonna work!
When I started my blog, I said I wasn't in it for followers and I meant it. As an Asper-girl, I tend to isolate myself from the people around me because of my social issues, but I'm still human (even if I am a totally screwed up one) and I need to let what's in my head spill out my mouth (or in this case, my fingers) just as much as the next person, if not more because I live in my head and I need the space...it's crowded in here! I'm just not able to spill it face to face with others which is why a blog is the perfect outlet, so to speak, I can spill as the mood strikes me. I could really care less if anyone reads my verbal diatribes, because it's about the spilling process itself and that fact is as true today as it was when I started! Frankly, I'm really surprised I have any followers! Who in the world would want to listen to the junk that comes out of my head?
But back to the challenge, the biggest turn off was having someone leave a comment "your blog is great, check out mine!". I'm gonna offend here, but that's too much like pimping yourself out and that's not what I'm about and I pretty much steered clear of people that did that (unless their blogs were good) just on the principle of the matter. I added blogs that appealed to me. I'm not the type to add you just because you add me and I don't want others to do the same for me...it's too much high school gym where everyone's screaming, "pick me, please pick me!", but you're still the last one picked. Nuh-uh, I've lived through those years already thank you.
Overall, it was an amazing experience, that was mentally and physically exhausting, but I really did enjoy myself! I didn't really learn anything new from my blogging experience since I pretty much know Disney World like the back of my hand, but I guess I could say that I did learn that there are others who feel the same way that I do about WDW (and others who don't, but that's OK, to each his own) and, despite my comments to the contrary about appealing to the masses, I did find myself at times really wanting people to love WDW as much as I do! I hope I inspired people to go to Disney World, but I also hope they listened to me enough to know you have to PLAN or you will have a total crappy time, or worse, make my time in Disney crappy because you get in my way! Heed my words...Keebles is good, Keebles is wise and always let an Asper-girl have her way or there will be hell to pay - we tend to throw temper tantrums in public!
See ya next year A to Z Challenge (geez, I only have a year to come up with a new topic...OCD in full effect!). Thanks everybody!
I got turned on to the challenge by my friend Katy at The Suddenly Kate Show and jumped in with both feet first! I started off-topic with a dedication to my beloved Zander, who was born on April 1, 1997, "B" through "Y" was all about my chosen topic of Walt Disney World, and "Z" was a dedication to Zachy-pooh, so this challenge was very personal because it combined my two favorite things, my pups (passed and living) and Walt Disney World!
I had a very hard time keeping my posts short (obviously!) and I had an even harder time restricting my topics for each letter but, in the end, I decided that it was more important to get my full thoughts completed, length be damned!! I didn't attract a lot more followers, but that's totally fine. For one thing, I was number 1501 on the list, so I'm sure most people (myself included) haven't made it that far down the list yet, and, for another, I don't really relish the thought of having a lot of people following me anyway...I am a total social-phobe after all!
Like I said, I'm still scanning all the blogs (I'm only in the 1200's), but I have found a few amazing ones! Even though I thought Disney would be a popular topic, I only ran across one other blog so far that was also about WDW, Nicki Elson's Not-So-Deep Thoughts. But funnily enough, she and I had a lot of the same topics (great minds think alike!). I also found a few that shared my work experiences, Grumpy IT Guy comes to mind, and Theresa's Tales of Teaching Tribulations and Typing Teen Texts did her blog on bands of the 80's, most of her choices I totally agreed with and it made me glad to know I'm not alone in my love for the great new wave and obscure bands of the 80's. I did find it odd that people kept commenting that they haven't listened to those bands in years, I guess I'm stuck in a decade, I still listen to that music (as well those bands new stuff) everyday! Since the humor of others most times just annoys the crap out of me, it was nice to see that there are others out there that share my dark sense of sarcastic humor and that could actually make me laugh (and trust me, it's a massive feat)!
About mid-stream, I read that the organizers issued another challenge to reach 100 followers. I didn't start this challenge to gain followers...it was more about me compiling my love of Disney World into organized groups - like the typical OCD'er I am, but I still found the very idea of blogging to add followers a bit off-setting to be honest. I felt like they were taking something fun and turning it into a competition which I guess was the original goal of the Challenge to win it, but at no point was that my personal goal (besides, I've never won anything in my whole life...why start now?). My blog has always been about me and my trials and tribulations, my loves and hates, in a nutshell it's about my world, as small as it is and this challenge was specifically about one of my passions, Disney World. I'm not writing to appeal to the masses (obviously, or I wouldn't offend so much!) and I definitely don't want to feel like I have to be funny 24/7 to keep others happy or to appeal to new people. A social-phobe on a stage...yeah, that's really gonna work!
When I started my blog, I said I wasn't in it for followers and I meant it. As an Asper-girl, I tend to isolate myself from the people around me because of my social issues, but I'm still human (even if I am a totally screwed up one) and I need to let what's in my head spill out my mouth (or in this case, my fingers) just as much as the next person, if not more because I live in my head and I need the space...it's crowded in here! I'm just not able to spill it face to face with others which is why a blog is the perfect outlet, so to speak, I can spill as the mood strikes me. I could really care less if anyone reads my verbal diatribes, because it's about the spilling process itself and that fact is as true today as it was when I started! Frankly, I'm really surprised I have any followers! Who in the world would want to listen to the junk that comes out of my head?
But back to the challenge, the biggest turn off was having someone leave a comment "your blog is great, check out mine!". I'm gonna offend here, but that's too much like pimping yourself out and that's not what I'm about and I pretty much steered clear of people that did that (unless their blogs were good) just on the principle of the matter. I added blogs that appealed to me. I'm not the type to add you just because you add me and I don't want others to do the same for me...it's too much high school gym where everyone's screaming, "pick me, please pick me!", but you're still the last one picked. Nuh-uh, I've lived through those years already thank you.
Overall, it was an amazing experience, that was mentally and physically exhausting, but I really did enjoy myself! I didn't really learn anything new from my blogging experience since I pretty much know Disney World like the back of my hand, but I guess I could say that I did learn that there are others who feel the same way that I do about WDW (and others who don't, but that's OK, to each his own) and, despite my comments to the contrary about appealing to the masses, I did find myself at times really wanting people to love WDW as much as I do! I hope I inspired people to go to Disney World, but I also hope they listened to me enough to know you have to PLAN or you will have a total crappy time, or worse, make my time in Disney crappy because you get in my way! Heed my words...Keebles is good, Keebles is wise and always let an Asper-girl have her way or there will be hell to pay - we tend to throw temper tantrums in public!
See ya next year A to Z Challenge (geez, I only have a year to come up with a new topic...OCD in full effect!). Thanks everybody!
Comments
I agree with you about comments and followers too. It sort of irked me when people would leave "Hey i visited your blog, so here's a link to mine." type comments.
ResidentGamer...the first thing I'll be doing after winning the lottery is moving to Golden Oak, so I definitely understand! Oh, and welcome to my little neck of the woods!
I just came across your blog, and to be honest, I don't know how I found it. I was a fellow A to Z er, and I agree with your feelings towards the goal of obtaining followers. It was not my goal when I joined to gain followers, although getting a little more visibility was.
I write because I am passionate about the issues I write about. The thing I hated most about the A to Z was the days I created trivial posts just to fill in a letter. I didn't care about the length of the posts I wrote, because I write for me, and I usually write to make a point.
I'm glad I found your blog. My wife's cousin has Asperger's, so I am somewhat familiar with it. I think it is great that you use your blog to externalize your thoughts. Bravo to you!
Evalina, This and that...
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