The day has arrived !!!! she said excitedly …

Today marks exactly one year since I began the infamous Happy Holly Project. One year since I was walking around with tear filled eyes far too much of the time and was intimidated encouraged to do something each and every day … for no reason other than the fact that it made me happy.

What a radical concept.

And so I started out … slowly but surely … looking for the humor in life. Looking for enjoyable things to do. Looking for joy for no reason other than the fact that it is joyful.

It is harder than you think, you know. Changing an entire outlook on things. Rediscovering the promise of life. Every single day.

There are a few things I need to mention here.

First.

I actually did an entry every single day of the past year. And two every day during the month of April for the NaPoWriMo Poetry project.

Yes, I know many of them were real stinkers. And I apologize for that. But I did make the effort. And frankly, some that I though were real bad turned out to be well liked … and visa versa.

But I have flexed my writing muscles … tried some new things … and taken tons of pictures … really bad pictures.

Second.

I want to thank all the folks who have read this thing for the past year. Some have been followers and later unfollowed. Some have been loyal followers and not shown up in the tallies anywhere. Except in my heart of hearts.

And I thank you all.

From the bottom of my heart and the top of my PC.

Third.

I am overwhelmed by the statistics. Currently there have been over 10,000 visitors from over 75 countries … and yes, I know I need to update the Countries That Have Viewed Holly page.

There were 397 posts, 1537 likes, 195 official daily followers, plus in excess of another fifty daily followers on Facebook, etc. Plus the handful of unrecognized friends and family that I know read this almost daily.

I have been reblogged several times, and put to podcast four times.

Oh, and I have been given two Liebster awards …

And all this from absolutely nothing … with no experience … and making no efforts whatsoever to “drum up” followers. Oh, OK … maybe I did send out “look at me” posts once from Facebook … but other than that …

Fourth.  

In honor of the end of the year … the project … like the dawn of the television age … I have decided to go from the white background, with black and white image at the top … to full color. And I have created the new image at the top (a work in progress) showing some of my favorite images from this past year.

Hmm. Just realized there are no pictures of me at the radio station.

Finally.

As I watched the countdown count down, I was asked by a few folks whether the project will continue.

Interesting question. Interesting concept.

In so much as it is a one year project … I suppose the answer technically is No.

But then again, this is fun. Nice people. Makes me feel good.

And it does keep my writing muses working even when I think it would be a better idea not to. The views and likes and feedback and private messages have arrived unerringly at times when I needed some support here.

How can I give that up?

So for the time being, I will continue to blog … to fearlessly search out the humor in life … to enjoy the things that life has to offer … and to share that joy with anyone who cares to read.

But I can’t promise I will never miss a day … ever.