SEDUCTION - Final Part IV

As I begin the final part of my blogger seduction story, to recap,I had evolved from being a skeptic of personal encounters between people who only knew each other through blogging, to an individual willing to consider the possibility of such a meeting, possibly with others present, and/or in an open public setting.

During those months preceding my change in point of view, my understanding and experiences were influenced by gradually increasing interaction with a few bloggers. On occasion they, and other readers, provided favorable supportive comments in response to my increasing written contributions. In a select few instances I exchanged offline emails with some of the bloggers. If I had any doubt about their authenticity, which by then I did not, some of them have since been pictured or written about elsewhere on the Internet, in print publications including the New York Times, AARP magazine, Le Monde, The Guardian, other.

Some of my other experiences included, unexpectedly being asked to write a guest post or piece on the blog that had so captured my attention in the beginning. At the time of that request I thought the blogger making it surely had questionable judgement, then concluded when I agreed to do so, that I must truly be crazy.

Another time, I was contacted by a business newspaper reporter in a large U.S. city, in a state other than my own, asking if they could get a quote from me, based on a comment I'd made on a blog, for a series the newspaper was going to publish. I did not seek out blogs of prominent individuals, nor did I avoid commenting on any I encountered, no matter what the individual's stature, if the piece/views that were written stimulated my interest.

While experiences such as these can be positive and reinforcing of the view that what I say, perhaps, how I say it, is welcomed and valued by some others, they are incidental activities associated with a much broader purpose in having a blog, from my perspective now.

I would be remiss if I did not say the act of writing that guest post for another blogger, with subsequent frequent and repeated encouragement by additional bloggers to continue writing was the catalyst that unleashed the writing I now undertake.

Subject matter may range from the mundane to the serious, from the personal to issues affecting our country and the world. Ageism, all those other discriminatory "isms" will not be welcome here. I'll need a good dose of humor from time to time. I likely won't be able to get along without referring to a little music, especially some jazz. Even if I make this blog writing journey alone without readers or receiving comments, I won't be lonely.

Writing for this blog will be an experiment for me in which I expect to learn about myself along the way. I plan to have fun, pleasure, and joy from this venture. I will welcome any and all who want to come along for the ride, or just visit from time to time. You may well read in the time ahead on this blog, thoughts on a variety of different topics, encompassing variously, a view of yesterday, today and tomorrow -- the past, present and future.