15 things I've learned doing this blog for a year

Dang, I really meant to do this yesterday so that it would end up being the final post in a year, but the day got away from me. I can't believe I've been doing a blog for a whole year and haven't bailed. It's honestly something I wasn't sure would happen. Anyways, here are some reflections on the year.

1. It is important that I keep writing. I know I have missed some days and have done plenty of listicles, but if I didn't do something that day, I knew I'd get out of the habit. One speaker in  my program said that you should do writing in a way that allows you to do it every day and that's what I've been doing.
2. Listicles are pretty fun to write...maybe I should work for Buzzfeed...
3. I can write for 15 minutes about a crazy amount of stuff. I've said no to very few prompts and, because of this, I've written some absolutely insane stuff (see: the post about all sheep share the same pair of eyes).
4. I enjoy writing my thoughts about movies and TV shows. This really shouldn't have been that much of a surprise since I like talking about them, but writing and talking are different and I think I could have a fair bit of fun being a reviewer.
5. My friends are very creative. I got a lot of prompts this year and some were just so much fun to write.
6. I like having people participate in my writing. Whether this is giving me a prompt or just reading my stuff, it's nice to feel more comfortable sharing my work.
7. Blogs can be a good way to draft things. Two of my posts have gotten published (after editing) in the Galway Review and The Lamp.
8. You don't have to love everything you write. This was something that would often stop me from writing, but from forcing myself to do a lot of writing, I learned that just because I don't love what I made, doesn't mean it wasn't worth writing.
9. I'm glad to have some posts that are close to diary entries. I haven't ever been able to keep up a diary for very long, so it's nice to see that I'll have some important days reflected on.
10. Photos can inspire me a lot. A lot of prompts were photo-based and those worked really well.
11. I am considering doing a photo and writing combination series. I am definitely a very amateur photographer, but I really enjoy it so it could be nice to combine my two creative passions.
12. It's okay if people don't read your work. It's actually somewhat of a relief to know that putting writing out into the world isn't going to be read and critiqued by literally everyone you know and respect.
13. Flickr commons and Wikimedia Commons have great photos. Most of the photos that aren't mine and aren't promotional images are from one of these sites. Gotta love creative commons and public domain.
14. Blogger is a very solid blog creator (or whatever you call it). I find it super easy to use and am pretty happy with how my blog looks and I barely had to do anything. 
15. I am going to keep it going for as long as I can. I'm honestly impressed with myself that I made it a year, so I hope I can do another year at least.

(Prompt by me)

Fireworks in Seattle, WA, US by Michael Lane. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Seattle_fireworks_2005.jpg