The 200,000th visitor

There was a milestone of sorts yesterday. The 200,000th visitor came and went, so who knows where we'll go from here. I don't always comment on the milestones because they are only figures indicating readership. I think the real success in my blog is the friendly and helpful community that has developed here. But I have to confess, when I saw that figure this morning, I did smile and reflect back to the morning I was wondering if I should blog, what name I would use and who on earth would read what I wrote. In the end I decided that a blog would create the perfect journal of what I'm doing here. A journal where I could look back and see photos of harvests, where I could record recipes and ways of doing and, if there ever were any readers, a way of sharing how we live.

Who knew.

A number of you who have been reading for a long time will know that I started writing a book about simple living, then, when I couldn't find an interested publisher, I turned my attention to ebooks. That fizzled out too because, after the conversion rates in each country, I would have had to charge too much to make it worthwhile. I sometimes feel like sending the address of my blog to those publishers who sent rejections because they didn't think there was a market for this kind of information. Now, excess is out of fashion, financial awareness is growing everyday and simple, sustainable lifestyles are seen as a viable alternative to over-consumption. Maybe the tide has turned, maybe there is a place within modern Western culture for lives to be pared back to the bare essentials and where excess is embarrassing. Read about it here in USA Today.

It takes a certain kind of person to want to conserve rather than consume, and it takes thought, care and a particular mindset to stick with it. Simple living is not one big thing - it's many small ones. It's easy to start simplifying, there are many small choices that you can make that, when added up, make a difference. Changing your light globes, a few at a time, to compact fluros is an good small step. Stop buying bottled water, cups of designer coffee and magazines. None of these actions is earth shattering alone but, when done over a long period of time, make a huge difference - to your wallet, your attitude and your environment. Make shopping totes and refuse plastic bags and over packaging. Start monitoring your electricity and water usage. Cook from scratch. Budget. Start saying no to meaningless activities - spend your time on what you're passionate about. Think about your life, make deliberate decisions about how you want your life to be - then plan how you will make that happen.

I have been encouraged in my efforts by many of the comments made here, and I am often overwhelmed by the generous and kind thoughts sent to me in emails. This blog has become a validation of sorts, it helps me stay focused and aware, and it's become more than a record for me; it's also a map of where I'm going. I want to thank each and every one of you who read, who comment, who help - like Sharon and Lorraine, who write the occasional guest post - like Bella, as well as all those lurkers out there - thank you for visiting and leaving behind your visible and invisible impressions.

For those of you interested in the figures, here are the graphs as they stand this morning. They change frequently during the day, in the early morning, like now, my Australian numbers are very low, later in the day they overtake the UK and US figures. Clicking on the graphs below will enlarge them.