Numbers

So I follow my views of this blog.
Seems kind of silly, does it not?  After all, there is no financial benefit for me from this blog and it is not as if as if the Meteor of Success has suddenly fallen on my head as a result of someone reading this and saying "Good Heavens, we need you writing right now!"  Still, it is a form of vanity that the purveyors make far too easy:  with the click of a button on the side, you can see daily, weekly, monthly, and forever listings.

As I wrote in December, I finally passed the 33,000 view mark.  Not too shabby, I thought to myself - after all, that was after 5 years of writing (more or less). And if I look today it is at 34,614, almost a 5% increase in 4 months.  April was my second highest month ever in terms of views.

And then I start getting visions of grandeur that I probably should not have:  what would happen if I got 2,000 views a month?  3,000?  What if got so focused on driving people to the site that I was getting as many views in a year as I got in the last 7? What if?

Except I know part of the reality.  Many of my "views" are really spammers just seeing that if they can find a way to post something in the comments section (surprisingly, I am popular in Russia.  No idea why). Another large chunk is actual a small group of people known to me (family and friends) that come here to see what my latest concerns or issues of the day are.  A third group (no idea who you are, but welcome!) are those new folks drifting around or through, either directed here by the kindness of people like PioneerPreppy or the faceless Google search because some word caught the search engine's fancy.

The worst part about becoming concerned about numbers?  It makes the writing all about the numbers, how many people can I drive to the site and how many can convert to do (fill in the blank).  That was never the point of this when I started it.  It was much more an exercise in writing what I wanted to write.  The people reading it were just the extra nice part.  

The secret, of course, is just to stop looking at the numbers at all.

So welcome if you are new here.  Feel free to kick the tires and try the car door locks. You will find we lead a pretty simple life here: No social trends.  No politics.   Some religion as it relates to my own struggles.  Lots of thoughts about how I deal with life as it comes and my struggles to become a better person.

We are happy to have you.  And please believe me when I say that you are never, ever  a number.