Goodbye to Goldpoppy

When your mentor for something decides to retire, you immediately question your own next steps. Blogging has suffered another loss as my friend Reya decided to quit writing this week. As with so many big questions in life, I find myself now asking, “How do you know when it’s the right time to stop?”

When Reya first wrote her Blog address on the back of her business card and gave it to me in December of 2004, I didn’t even know what a Blog was. I logged onto my computer maybe twice a week to read e-mail.

That was the point at which my computer-usage changed radically. I had been doing some personal writing, but I had no where to put it. Creating my Blog gave me the instant status of being an author. I was hooked.

Then DC Blogs came along in November 2005 and our world was enriched with hundreds of local Bloggers doing the same thing we were. After having 0 comments for almost a year and knowing only of Reya’s Blog, I felt like I suddenly had a family!

The following month I somewhat reluctantly took myself to a happy hour at Eye Bar where I met people like DC Cookie and Direct Current. Everyone was so nice and welcoming, despite the generation gap. I first learned of StatCounters from Direct Current.

My next years of Blogging were occasionally punctuated by being “featured” on DC Blogs, WaPo Express, and Wonkette. What an ego boost (and a StatCounter boost) every time that happened.

But one of the things I most enjoyed from the very beginning was a daily dose of Reya’s wisdom and all those wonderful photos each morning. Her mind is so unique that you could never predict what the next post would bring.

I was utterly shocked when she decided walking home from work one day this week to end her Blog. There was no warning. It was just over.

And in so doing she joined the ranks of many of DC Blogs’ finest who have moved on from (almost) daily writing to occasional writing or to not writing at all. The ones that come to mind include:

Direct Current
Rhinestone Cowgirl
DC Cookie
Circle V
Velvet
Kathryn
Washington Cube
Always Write

I’m sure there are others, but those are the names that first came to my mind.

Of the locals that I read regularly and who were in this from the beginning, I can see only Kristin (Candy Sandwich) and Jamy (Grateful Dating) who are still actively Blogging.

I have loved discovering new DC Bloggers and Bloggers outside the DC area, as far away as Ireland and Australia, many of whom are closer to my generation. So I have a secure feeling that Blogging in general is alive and well.

But I’m already missing Reya terribly. And even she is feeling the pangs of leaving this era of her life behind, as she said in an e-mail message to me today, “I'm having terrible withdrawals from blogging. Don't quit until you HAVE to, that's my advice.” She has a talent for giving advice.

Of course this leaves me with some questions, like:

– Does Blogging of necessity have a natural life cycle that implies we all must quit someday?
– How will I know when that time has come?

Meanwhile, I still have a lot to unload on you faithful readers, so please keep coming back and please keep giving me your own thoughts when they spill out onto your Blog.

Farewell to Goldpoppy! You are always a much treasured and welcome reader here.