Last Updated on December 8, 2020 by ThoughtsStained

Though this blog continues to grow and evolve and change and get older, one thing has consistently never changed:
I never remember this anniversary and every year, I want to do a really fun, detailed post, with stats and graphics and highlights of successful posts and challenges and all those really cool, beautiful things I’ve seen other bloggers do on their anniversaries.
And every year, I miss it until the day of, so I’m scrambling to put together anything at all..
(Thank goodness for that WordPress notification.)
So, today, Thoughts Stained With Ink turns six years old!

I’m pretty jazzed about that. I never knew how much this blog would grow and how important it would become to me over the years. It’s not just a way to connect with people–and I have connected with a ton, from other bloggers who I’ve come to admire and become friends with, to finding the writing group that literally stretches across the globe who mean so much to me and I can’t imagine my life without them. And then there are the readers, who will like my post and let me know they are present; who leave comments and let me know what resonates with them, what thoughts my post inspired or inflicted. That anyone takes the time to read these ramblings is more humbling and awing than anyone knows, I think.
And while those readers and connections mean the world to me, helping this blog surpass any vision I could possibly ever have for it, this blog has always been and always will be, most importantly, my outlet; something personal, for me. This blog, this space, is where I go to vent, to process, to express emotion, to grow, to be vulnerable, to teach. It’s the place where I can be me, be the most candid, the most real version of myself; partly because I’m able to hide behind a keyboard as I write, so there is a safety net built in there, of course. But also because I’ve been welcomed by such a warming, welcoming and wonderful community of bloggers who truly feel like friends and who, through likes and comments and interaction and friendship, make my voice not only feel heard in my tiny little corner of the internet, but also make it feel valued.
That means more than I think I can ever express.
Six years is not a small number in the blogging community, I believe, but I have no plans on stopping any time soon. I’m not sure how this blog will continue to evolve and change. I know I have goals to try and learn more about how to work with layouts and graphics with WordPress. I love how beautiful some of the blogs I follow are and I wouldn’t mind amping Thoughts Stained up to that level (and fully admit I’m jealous of those blogs and bloggers who have those capabilities). I’ve also imagined trying to go ahead and create my author brand through this blog, but I’m not sure how I want to do that, quite yet. But with how excited I am about some of these projects I’m working on, I’m hoping I’ll have need of that brand and marketing sooner rather than later. 🙂
Though uncertain what the future will truly look like for this blog, this blog definitely isn’t going anywhere. My blogging output has reached the level where it feels like I’ve taken on an additional job, considering I also run two other blogs: my book review blog, Erlebnisse, and my short story collaborative blog, Muse in Pocket, Pen in Hand, both which I love and will continue to be passionate about. But Thoughts Stained will always be my “main blog,” my first passion, and it will always be important to me, even if I don’t always have the time I want to truly dedicate to it and reach the vision I’d love to achieve.
Doesn’t mean I can’t try to reach it, though.
So thank you for the past six years, fam. It’s been a true honor to be a part of such a warm community. I hope to continue to grow my presence here and continue interacting with all of you, while also finding new bloggers to connect with and support!
I will leave you with links to some of my favorite posts from the past year, so I have some semblance of having my act together:
On Writing:

• Stealing The Caruso Editing Method
• You Could Call Me Stubborn (And You’d Be Right)
• Book Six: Or, Perhaps My Most Important Book to Date
• First Draft Completed: Blood Price Edition

On Life:

• Something A Little Different
• So Guess What, Brain?

And More:

• E3 Reponse From the Casually Obsessed Gamer

Thanks again and here’s to another half a dozen years!
Cheers.