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Well, this is it.  This is day 31 of a 31 day challenge for myself and this blog.  I know that everyone who has been participating is writing pretty much the same damn thing today, but hellwiddit.  This is my first-ever Blaugust and I’m gonna write my thoughts on it too.

Nyah.

I’ll get to the things that were perhaps just below my expectations first.  For one thing, I don’t like the Anook website.  I mean, not really.  It’s ugly and not really interesting and I got this “Steam forums” vibe from it which I don’t really find compelling.  It had its use for initiative daddy Belghast, so I can appreciate why it was a requirement.  I just wasn’t a fan of it for purely silly reasons.

Second, WHOA YOU GUYS THIS WAS HARDER THAN I THOUGHT.  I have immense respect for folks who I follow that post on a daily basis because doing this for just 31 days was a lot more difficult than I first assumed.  I had a feeling it would be tough, but I was not prepared.

“Told you.”

That said, those were perhaps the only real negatives of the whole exercise for me.  The positives have far outweighed the bad.  For example, it has gotten me to consider posts in shorter time, meaning I can turn out a topic easier than I had before.  It has also shown me the value of drafts, since some of my posts when I publish them out without an editing pass don’t really come together as cleanly as I had wanted.

It has shown me that I can actually keep up a regular posting schedule.  I never thought I could meet the requirements of the challenge.  I was positive that I was going to schedule poorly, post errantly, and just not make it all the way to day 15, let alone day 31.  Which is an immensely satisfying and encouraging thing.

It also has introduced me to a whole SLEW of amazing people.  It has given me so many awesome blogs to read that I never would have found without the initiative.  Or at least not have found as swiftly.  My blog feed has pretty much tripled in size as a result of Blaugust.

More importantly, it has made me feel like I’ve been included in a secret club.  I’ve been enfolded in a community of talented, driven, passionate and very fun people, even if sometimes our interactions stretch no further than the comment sections of our respective blogs.  That has given me even more impetus to write than ever before.

I’ve also installed this handy Insta-Blog button on my keyboard!

Being called a “Blaugustinian” makes me feel like I’m part of some…like…some Roman elite fighting force.

We were warriors.  We faced the enemies of an empire and, shoulder to shoulder, blade to shield to blade, we lived to tell the tale.  We were more than army.  We were more than service to the cause.  

We were Blaugustinians.

See that kind of feels epic, doesn’t it?  I mean, the achievement of doing something out of our comfort zone.  To do something that we never thought possible.  Yea, yea, yea, all we’re doing is typing for a few minutes one time a day.  Not exactly an insurmountable challenge in the grand spectrum of challenges…but if you don’t do this often?  It means a lot when you try it and actually achieve it.

And even if you didn’t make it to 31 days total, the attempt itself means a lot.  You who tried and maybe were burning out?  I still have as much respect for those who made it to the full 31.  Even moreso.  You went at a thing that you weren’t really sure could be done and you charged at it anyway.  That is nothing to sneeze at.

So yes, I’m going to join in the glad-handing along with the rest of the mass blogging mind.  I’m going to enjoy this.  And I’m going to take the lessons I’ve learned from it and roll with them.  I’m going to enjoy all the new stuff to read.

Also, I’m going to take to Twitter over the course of today and use the #ThanksToBlaugust hashbrown to show my appreciation to Belghast for this initiative.  You’re more than welcome to join me if you like.

If he’s reading this, though….thanks.  You’ve made me a better blogger, you’ve made me a better writer overall, and you’ve got SO MANY RESPECT-CUPCAKES FROM ME WOW.

Thanks.  To everyone.  Hearts.