Last week we spent a few days up in Boston celebrating my birthday.  One afternoon while we were relaxing, waiting to go out, I checked my iPad.  There were several notifications from WordPress that had been sitting unopened for a few days.  One of them was a congratulatory note on being active on the site for one year.  I didn’t give it much thought until this morning.  I looked back at my first post made on August 7, 2013.  I scrolled through them.  I’ve posted 76 times; a little more than 6 a month.

One year ago the thought of having a blog and posting fairly regularly was not even on the radar.  Who would want to read what I wrote?  Suppose what I write is not as good as I think it is?  How will I know what to write?

In June of 2013, I was accepted as a member of Open Group at Bedlam Farm (now Creative Group at Bedlam Farm) a Facebook group started by author Jon Katz as a way to encourage creativity in its members.  Its Mission Statement was to be a Ministry of Encouragement, a safe place to learn and grow, a troll-free environment.  In less than two months, I started this blog; something I would most likely never have done without this modern day cyber Chautauqua.

But it’s not just the incredible exchange of ideas and talents, it’s the deep and varied friendships that have developed among the Group members.  For this I am forever indebted to Jon Katz and his simple idea of a safe place to explore the bright spark of creativity in us all.

So now I have a second reason to celebrate in August.  The first is my actual, physical birthday and the second is my rebirth as an artist and writer.  Happy Rebirthday to me! And I wish you all the opportunity to celebrate a Rebirthday for your passion, whatever is.