Avoiding Atrophy's 100th Blog Post

Today is the day, folks. My 100th blog post. Other bloggers in this world who started much later than me passed their 100th post ages ago without even realizing it. These are the kind of fabulous people who post every single day, write in some kind of day-planner to keep their blogging life in order, and make breakfast smoothies, probably with spinach. I don't do any of these things, so almost three years into this thing, I'm just now getting into my 100th post. Deal with it.

Getting into triple digits is monumental to me. It means that there were at least one-hundred times in the last two and a half years where I sat down with a focused intention to communicate my thoughts through writing. Of course, some posts were a bit more focused and intentional than others.

When I started Avoiding Atrophy, I was in that weird, post-collegiate transitional period, a time which has been the catalyst for certainly thousands of other blogs. I felt wayward and strange, totally unsure of what the next year was going to look like. Here is an excerpt from my first post where I laid out the foundation of why I wanted to write during this time in my life:

Everyone knows this is an interesting transition. I'm not the first to write about it and I won't be the last. Many of the people I know are in this exact same boat, and let me tell you, it is weird. This is the first time where we truly could sink or swim. We could choose to pursue this new life with a boldness and determination that we always dreamed we would or we could sit, lie, wait, and let our muscles atrophy until we don't even resemble human. 

For me, I choose the former. That's just me though. And this blog is to hold me accountable to that. 

Over the course of time, I've been able to elaborate on why I began blogging, but I'm not sure I've allowed myself to explain what this whole thing has truly meant to me. I started out writing Avoiding Atrophy thinking that I might make some people laugh (my mom, at least) and that maybe I'd be able to use it as a distraction from constantly refreshing monster.com. I had absolutely no idea the implications blogging would have in my life, and if you've been with me from the beginning, you probably didn't either. I mean, my first post was titled "A Defense for Cowboys & Aliens." That doesn't really scream successful lifestyle blogger, honestly.

An early photo of myself that I posted on my blog. Wook at duh wittle baybeeee!

Looking back, though, on where I was when I started and where I am now, Avoiding Atrophy has been exactly what I hoped it would be -- a way to keep myself accountable, a way to remind myself and others like me that life can be beautiful even when it's the worst. But believe it or not, it's become even more than that. This blog and the people who support it have given me courage like I never would  have had otherwise. At least, I call it courage. You might call it insanity.

The encouragement I've experienced here has propelled me to change the entire trajectory of my professional life. I left my job and decided to call myself a writer. Some days I even make money doing this. It's all kind of unbelievable.

And none of that would have been possible without you. Yes, YOU! Reader-you. I've got to be honest, as much as I was doing this for my own edification, it would have been tough to write one-hundred blog posts with no comments. Somewhere along the way, people started reading, commenting, and sharing. And sharing is caring, guys. No, but really, it is. It's how we feel understood. It's certainly one of the best ways I have felt understood over the last few years.

This blog is a different thing than it was when it started, and I like to think I'm a different thing too. If I could go back in time and tell Early Blogger Christy what her life would be like over the next couple of years, I think she would be like, "Get it, girl!"

Oh, Early Blogger Christy! There is so much you don't know!

Here's what I would tell her:

-You're still married to your husband, and he is still keeping it tight.

-You eventually find a job...more like five jobs...and you hate almost all of them. Stop crying.

-You move to New York City. Brooklyn, specifically. You get a cat and call him Frasier, for he truly is a pretentious jerk, but you love him anyway.

-Avoiding Atrophy undergoes a bit of a transformation when you write a couple of posts about things you would do-over at your wedding. A bunch of people share it on Pinterest. Oh, you don't know what Pinterest is yet? Oh, honey...

-You struggle with all of this because, well, you're not a wedding blogger. In fact, the only thing you really know about weddings is what NOT to do at them. You worry that you are getting page views for all of the wrong reasons and that when people find out that you mostly just write about cats and your feelings, they will expose you for the fraud you are. 

-This doesn't happen. It's a miracle. Out of this influx of traffic, a handful of fantastic people stick around. They sympathize with your inability to put your hair in a sock bun. And, girl, get this -- they leave comments.

-In the midst of all of this, you make a big decision to totally reroute your career path. And guess what you decide to do instead? Girl, just GUESS. 

-You decide to write. It's the thing that has always made you the happiest, and you've decided to make a life of it. This came about for a whole host of reasons -- one of those reasons being your love of blogging, so girl, seriously, keep it up. 

Long story short, blogging = life-changer. So once again, thank you, guys. Thanks to the new readers and the ones who have been with me from the beginning. Thanks to the countless bloggers who have provided me with a ton of wonderful bloggy advice, and thanks to all of the writers who inspire me on a daily basis. And finally, thanks to the people in my life -- those I can see and touch and smell as well as those I can Skype with-- who have been so encouraging of this endeavor. You just have no idea what you mean to me.

Before I go, I'll leave you with ten of my favorite posts from the last one-hundred (wow, 100!). Feel free to read them or feel free to do literally anything else. Either way, I'm just happy you were here today helping me avoid atrophy.

10 Things I Like About Myself // Laments of a Former Film Student // A Cure for the Sunday Wigglies™ // Smart Girls Have More Fun // Progressively Married at Twenty-Two // If I Had It To Do All Over: Wedding Planning // How to Create a Better Writing Space // New York City: The Fickle Lover // The 10 Best Search Terms That Lead To My Blog // Feelings Friday: Bravery

Here's to 100 more!

The 10 Best Search Terms That Lead to My Blog

For the record, the fact that anyone shows up to read Avoiding Atrophy is a gift that I'll never take for granted. You guys could be doing literally ANYTHING else, but instead you take precious time to read my writing and do things like wish my husband and I a happy anniversary, give me much-needed advice on how to fix-up a dresser, and discuss the strange rush you get when putting fruit in your water. You guys are nothing short of a miracle in my eyes.

I googled "miracle GIF", and this is what came up, so this is what you get.

I'm always interested to know how people find my blog. Through my blogger stats, I'm able to find out exactly that along with a ton of other crazy information like what country my readers are in and what operating system they are using (what up, Latvian Linux users!). I'm especially interested in the Google search terms that intentionally or unintentionally lead folks to Avoiding Atrophy, and today I'd like to share a few of my favorites with you.

When you stumble upon this blog, you may ask yourself...

The 10 Best Search Terms That Lead to My Blog

1. infj careers to avoid

I once wrote a post about my Myers-Briggs Personality Type which happens to be INFJ (stands for Introversion, Intuition, Feeling, Judging). It was basically the most self-serving post I've ever written. I spent the entire time talking about my personality quirks, but it provided a platform for other INFJs to vent, which was cool. That post does not address what careers to avoid, but from my experience, I'd say steer clear of being an executive assistant, tour guide, or fitting room attendant at Anthropologie.

2. wine sad

Well, hey man, if wine is making you sad, you should probably stop drinking it. Just my two cents.

This search term refers to a post I wrote after going to a wine-tasting. But seriously, wine is a depressant, so if you can only muster the energy to write "wine sad" into a Google search, I suggest you switch to Diet Dr. Pepper. 

3. صور البوكيمون

I was stoked to see this search term come up on my blogger stats because it clearly meant that I have an international audience. I was imagining that this phrase translated would probably say something like "inspirational female blogger with delightful cat stories", but unfortunately that was not the case. A quick Google Translate revealed the following:

When my husband wrote a guest post about adventures, he made a quick reference to Pokemon. Thanks, Daniel, for introducing the worldwide nerd community to Avoiding Atrophy.

4. all the pokemon

Because seriously, guys, they gotta catch em all.

5. how to do a wedding

I love this one because it illustrates the exact cluelessness I had when starting to plan my wedding. By not being a woman who majored in Floral Arrangements or DIY Table Settings, I was left to my own inept devices to plan my wedding. I remember frequently asking, "Um...how...do I...like...do...a wedding?" 

Whoever found my blog by searching this, we should get a drink sometime. (Just don't invite whoever googled "wine sad.")

6. i will ignore my best friend

....I have no idea how you found my blog, sir or madam, but best friends are great and you probably should not ignore them. In fact, with respectable boundaries, you should feel free to spend a considerable amount of time with them. Just ask these guys:

7. "wheat thins" bag pink bra

I truly do hope this person found what they were looking for because it sounds fascinating. When they stumbled upon Avoiding Atrophy, they were probably disappointed to find this picture of me downing a bunch of wheat thins on the day of my wedding.

Wheat Thins and bra straps are pictured here, so it is very possible that they found exactly what they were looking for.

8. what is with bodega wine giving me bladder problems

This is my personal favorite, but sadly, I am sure my blog was no help to this poor soul. They must have found Avoiding Atrophy by way of this post where I mention a bodega in my neighborhood where I buy spoiled milk. I would, however, like to give some advice to whoever searched this.

Dear friend, I am sorry for your persistent health problems. I have a few things I'd like to say regarding why this might be happening to you. 

1) You are drinking wine that you bought at a bodega. Stop. Examine your choices. 

2) It is likely that said wine has been in that bodega since the Carter administration. 

3) While age is usually good for wine, bodegas, like storage units, typically make for poor wine cellars.

4) I know this thing about storage units because one time I left a bottle of Menage a Trois wine in a storage unit over the summer, and when I went to drink it, it tasted like vinegar and ketchup

5) Anyway, you probably are drinking wine that has been growing bacteria.

6) And not the good kind of bacteria like the stuff in kombucha or Activia -- the bad kind that makes you die, probably.

7) Stop buying bodega wine. You don't have to get all fancy. Just get some Yellowtail or something.

It tastes fine.

9. eyes entropy spectacles

....Hope you found what you were looking for, doctor.

10. avoiding atrophy

Of course people find my blog by searching for its name, but I often have to wonder if these guys are actually looking for ways to avoid real physical atrophy. To these people, I'm legitimately sorry. Feel free to move along.

You may also be looking for the song, Avoiding Atrophy, by a band called DissolvedIn. If that's the case, here you go:

Anyway, whether you found my blog through Pinterest or through googling "ALL of the Pokemon", it really doesn't matter. The point is you're here, and I'm happy for that. 

Relationships are funny that way. We often stumble upon them without a second thought, and in the process of giving and receiving, they become so much more than we ever thought they would be.

You might have started your relationship with this blog because you had some questions about wedding planning, New York City, or Wheat Thins, but I hope you stick around to be a part of this. If you haven't yet, be sure to follow Avoiding Atrophy (in the column on the right side of this page) and continue to experience the ongoing, in-depth discussions on relationships, life lessons, and bodega wine.

A Cryptic Post About Upcoming Changes

As I mentioned in my previous post, I have been doing a lot of soul-searching, meditating, and fierce doodling on the purpose of Avoiding Atrophy.

An example of one of my nonsensical, frightening brainstorm-doodles. 

While absolutely nothing in the above picture has anything to do with the vision of this blog, rest assured that I have actually had some sane thoughts about what the next steps are.

One of the things that has really hit home in my brainstorming is the idea of using this platform to engage two kinds of people (who actually happen to be the same person): The Stumbling Realist and the Sophisticated Idealist. That's you, right? You are both of those people. You have been Jekyll and Hyde-ing your way through this whole mess of life. One day you've got almost everything so figured out that you actually manage to floss and sleep for seven hours. The next day you have some inexplicable ailment like Cat Scratch Fever and you just want to watch The Babysitter's Club on Netflix for the rest of the day.

If that's you, Avoiding Atrophy is here to let you know that it is okay to be both of those things: real and aspirational. There's a part of you that needs to be happy about living in the realistic camp before you can experience the benefits of the aspirational one. I think the best and most interesting people go hard for both.

(And if none of this is sounding familiar to you, feel free to go read some other blog where perfect people hang out and talk about quinoa and engaging your core or whatever. I will not be joining you.)

Anyway, here's just a taste of what's to come. This is how I'm planning right now to restructure my tabs along with some weekly features that will go with it. See if you can decipher any of this nonsense!

Another thing that matters a lot to me is hearing what YOU, THE READER, would like to see happen on Avoiding Atrophy. After all, the plan is for all of us to avoid atrophy together. You should get a say in the matter of how we do it.

What are some things you would like to see more of on this blog? How can I reach you on the realistic-aspirational spectrum? How many pictures of baby animals can I post per week? Is 12 too many or too few? Comment on this post or shoot me an email, and I'll happily give it some thought in my next doodling session. 

Also, if you're not following yet, I'd love for you to get on that for two reasons: 1) I do a special jig every time I get a new follower, and 2) New followers makes creating community experiences far more possible. Avoiding Atrophy is a discussion, not a lecture, so get in on this! You can click "Join This Site" in the sidebar of this page if you haven't already done so.

What the WHAT?!

It's kind of like when you eat a cashew, and then you look down and notice that your skin is slightly irritated. You think to yourself, meh...maybe it's a mosquito bite. I'm just going to keep loving on these cashews.

But then you wake up in the morning and you are covered, head to toe, in hives. Your entire body is practically a hive. You realize you are allergic to cashews, and you mourn that thought for a minute...and then you go to the hospital.

THAT is what it was like to write a blog post, think nothing of it, and then all of a sudden realize that it's been read 60,000 times and counting!

Only it's not at all like getting hives and going to the hospital. It's too wonderful for that kind of comparison, but I just love the visual too much to let it go.

Anyway, I am floored by the overwhelmingly positive response to my last post, If I Had it Do All Over: Wedding Planning. Thanks to everyone who read it and said such kind things about it! 

When I saw that so many folks from all over were reading it and repinning it, I started to get a little nervous. I mean, the internet can be a cruel place. I thought it was only a matter of time before people were going to start condemning me via the comments-section. 

You could have been like...

or

or even

(It seriously took me like 30 seconds to find those comments on the first Youtube video I clicked on)

But you weren't like that at all! You were all like...

and

and for those of you who are about to get married, you were like

because you're about to get married, and my mistakes will not be repeated at your wedding!

Anyway, thanks to you all! Keep reading. I promise to be self-depracating, helpful, and not post too many instagrams of my cat.

Except for this one...