An Interview With the Innkeeper ..... 3/13/16

     This is a special day today.

     Today is the fifth anniversary of this inn.  Please celebrate this day with me.  I'd love hearing from you. For this anniversary I'll do something never done before: I will interview myself.

What have I liked best about being the innkeeper? 

   1. Seeing the many sources of  joy I have.   Research reveals that those with a cheerful attitude are healthier, live longer are more resilient and relate well with others.
   
       Looking at life with an attitude of gratitude is a result of practice
and discipline. I know for the Bay Area it is more hip to be cynical and critical. Not me. Those two qualities do not nurture nor redeem.

     To be grateful requires humility. It is seeing wonder where others see nothing.  It having a vision about the best life offers.  Many are blinded to life's beauty because they are full of fear and despair.

     Gratitude expands when we see what others have seen and enjoy the beauty in the dark or small spaces of life that others can not consider as avenues of joy or thanks. 

     This happens when we are free from negative mental chatter. 

A happy heart makes the face cheerful, but heartache crushes the spirit.   Proverbs 15:13

   2.  It helps me be more disciplined about writing and to know the joy it provides.  I have been a public speaker for decades.  Writing is entirely different.  I think and express myself more clearly because of the time I've invested in writing for this inn. Writing demands clarity.

        Writing for this blog has been a journey of self-discovery.  It gives me a lot of joy, expressing myself through writing.

What have I liked the least about being the innkeeper?

Not knowing how effective this blog is.  I trust it is. There are many who give it a look.

What has been the most surprising thing about having this inn? 

     Having guests visit from around the world.  How they find me, I have no idea.  I know many have found me through google.

     For several years one country really checked me out.  For the longest time, other than the U.S., it was U.K.  Then it was Spain.  They both have been replaced by India.  A large portion from this country visits me every month.

     In 2015 the Russian readership was large. Almost catching up with the previously mentioned countries. That has slowed.  From mid 2015 until now Germany was the third largest audience.  France has recently taken that place.

     I want to be clear about the U.S. readership. It's the largest.  By far.  Every month, seventy-eight percent of my readership comes from within its borders.  That's been 516, 201 as of this anniversary.

     I am grateful for everyone who comes through the doors of this thankful place in cyberspace.

What has been the most demanding part about tending to this inn? 

     Keeping up with all the chocolates I have to leave on everyone's pillow at night.  Just joking.  Being disciplined to write consistently is probably the most challenging duty as the innkeeper.  Along with giving my best effort when I write.

  I relate with Tolstoy.  He said every time he wrote he left a little bit of his blood in the inkwell.  Hemingway had a point, too.  He said, "There is nothing to writing. All you have to do is sit at a typewriter and bleed."

         For me, writing has not been that painful.  It involves being in touch with my heart.  I write about what moves me, what grabs my passions.  I share niches of gratitude that can easily be overlooked.

      Sometimes I write about a battle I face.  I share the benefits found in the struggle.  I may share thankfulness for how that difficult moment is developing my patience.  I may write my appreciation for the opportunity to practice grace when stressed.  I might share my gratitude that being in a  crucible is an opportunity to exercise resiliency.

 *******

      I know it looks like I have been absent.  I have been working behind the scenes.  I am rewriting the posts written here.  I am also getting ready for a book.

     Most of the posts on the sidebar to your right have been rewritten.  Recently.  Seriously revamped.  I see what is climbing in popularity.  I check them out, noticing my writing has improved since writing these pieces.  I take a chisel to them, sculpting away, improving the work.

      In five years I've written 1,239 posts.

• That's 20.65 posts or essays written per month. 
• 19.5  published per month---ones I've let you see: 
• At 500 words per post: I've written 619,500 words. 
• an average book has 50,000 words. 
• There has been enough written here that would fill 12 books. 

How About You? 
What are your gratitudes about this inn?  Please celebrate this day by sharing with me your thoughts.