I have determined by examining the results of the last post I put up and the statistics that came in that you guys REALLY LIKE PHOTOS!!!! All of my other blog posts were viewed like 3,000-5,000 times and then here came the one with the 15 photos of Tropical Storm Beryl and it got 19,000 views!!! Can you believe it??? I wonder if we as a society like photos better than reading/writing because it is less work and we can construe whatever we imagine to be the story in the photo or is it basically that we have a human nature that simply wants to SEE the other humans in the photos and their reactions to trauma, pain, suffering, happiness, joy and love?
Human beings seem to have a curiosity factor that they cannot control. It starts as a baby and we think it is cute so we don't curb the behavior. We see it as a stage of "learning" that a child is getting into everything and finding their way around in the world. However, if an adult came to our house and started playing with our pots and pans while sitting on the floor in the kitchen we might think that he is a little strange. To humans all things are acceptable when taken in context.
Which is why a photograph can completely offend someone and it can make the person behind them laugh out loud with a complete lack of self-control. This is why it is so easy to misunderstand someone with text messages and the written word versus photographs or speaking face-to-face. Using the two latter methods leaves less room for misunderstanding because you see with your own eyes the look on their face, you see the reflection in their eyes and if in person you hear the tone of their voice. All of these things help convey the message they are trying to send to you beyond the simple words being uttered.
Don't get me wrong about the power of the written word! Entire countries have followed people just because they believe in what a person has preached from atop a hill or a stone. People have incited riots and death just because of words. As a writer, I have personally felt the power of words in a personal way when people come up and thank me for something that I wrote which touched them deeply or something that I replied to which worked out for someone and they came back to thank me later so I know how words can sometimes mean the difference between life and death.
When I worked in medicine, words were crucial. If we used the wrong word in a surgery for example, the patient could have devastating effects. Also, we had to choose our words carefully when telling family that their loved ones had died. There is just no easy way to do that, for them or for us. I have been on both sides unfortunately.
However, it was amazing to me that by just adding photos, it tripled the readership on just that blog post. It didn't make those people stick around too long and keep reading the rest I noticed but that is OK. I appreciate the rest of you who DO stick around all the time to show your support.
I am noticing that as this blog gets busier and I have the website too, it is getting harder and harder to answer each of you personally when you write. Please don't take offense if I don't answer you every time that you post. I do my best to keep up but the page went from 0 to 19,000 in a couple of weeks and I am very grateful but unable to thank everyone personally with my one good arm (even if it is my good writing arm....hahahaha). I am sure you know how much I appreciate your support.
I have been at this blog for close to 5 years now, then I did some ghost writing for Bryan Rosner who is a GREAT guy who also suffers from Lyme and has written 5 books now. He wrote a fantastic book on RIFE machines if you are looking into that therapy, get Bryan's book first and read it!! He has been struggling with fighting mold so badly lately that he moved his family out into the desert because he just could not get well anywhere else. These are the extremes we will go to in order to get well.
The reason I called this dribs and drabs is because everyone keeps asking me two questions that wouldn't seem alike but the answers are really the same. Question #1 is always: How are you feeling? Are you getting any better? Answer: In dribs and drabs. Get it?? Question #2 is the follow up: Do you think you will ever go back to work? Oh yah, you are doing that writing thing....how is that coming along? Answer: In dribs and drabs. Works every time.
I have been interviewed on the news about my condition, I have written my blog as mentioned, I have been a guest blogger for Pajamadaze.com and now for lymedisease.org, I have written a book with 32 of my closest blogger friends who also suffer from invisible illnesses and it is currently being sold on Amazon for $8.99 paperback, $4.99 e-reader or even FREE if you have Kindle Unlimited Reader!!!! It took us three years to put it all together because there are poeple from all over the world who contributed to this book. It was work but I am so proud to say that not only did I help write a book but I was the editor too. Such a great feeling.
The reason that I bring all of this up is that I spent almost 30 years of my life in school to work in medicine. If you figure that I started around 5 or so and I got my Master's Degree when I was about 34, that would be almost 30 yrs of taking at least one class per semester if not more. I am wondering how long it will take me to switch careers completely to writing and being a speaker. So far, it seems to be going OK with the blog and the ghost writing but I have to stay on top of stuff every minute, constantly checking the website and writing to keep everyone updated all the time. This is more work than my former job I think. At least with that one, I was capable of moving. This one, I am stuck in bed which makes me very sore.
Like I said though, fame is not immediate. No one ever said it was. There are people who toiled for years and years of writing and taking photographs only to become famous after their deaths. Now that would really pi$$ me off. At least let me enjoy some of it while I am here for cripes sake. So, I keep writing, I never turn down an assignment and I always stay up to date on what is going on in the Lyme world. Like I said, I am getting the feeling that even my 5 minutes of fame will come that way....in dribs and drabs.
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