A few days ago Ali asked me if I would be interested in taking over her blog for a day. It sounded like a fun thing to do; even though I haven't done anything like this before. So, as a first timer, I spent this weekend thinking about a topic I wanted to write about. And really, there was only one subject that seemed to come to mind.
A little trip down memory lane
About a year ago I wrote a post on my blog about the things I'd tell you if we -as old friends- were having coffee. At the time I was troubled and stressed about quite some things and that particular post helped me unload on some of the stuff that had been going on in my mind. Ali was one of the first ones to comment on that post. We hadn't talked before, but her reply was incredibly sweet and it was because of this that we initially started talking. Just tweets at first, then emails after a while, then actual letters, and about a month ago we had our first Skype chat.
Why am I telling you all of this?
Well, mainly because the topic I want to talk about (while taking over Ali's blog) is about friendships made through blogging.
Into detail
When I started blogging I never would I have thought that I'd end up making friends. Or maybe it's more that I never thought I could become this close to somebody I'd met online. I have always been on my guard, cautious even, when it came to people I met through the internet. Which is understandable, because I think we've all heard some sort of horror story about people meeting online and it ending horribly. It's always better to be cautious, because there is no real way to know if people tell the truth, and there's no real way to find out whether people are who they claim to be. So at first, when I'd just started talking to Ali, I was hesitant.
I quickly found out that it was lots of fun talking to her, and as we got to know each other better our tweets went from book-related to more personal. As we talked more and more, our conversations shifted from being sent over twitter to emails. And lots of lengthy emails later, we started writing letters too. I can't begin to explain how much I loved coming home after school and finding one of Ali's letters in my mailbox. So over the year we got to know each other better and better and eventually we made the decision about a month ago to start Skyping as well.
Somewhere I chose to abandon caution and decided to take a chance. A decision I have never regretted. Because Ali has become one of my closest friends since then. We text a lot; talking about random stuff, and have plans to meet up somewhere in the future (unfortunately there is a very big ocean in between us and money is an issue, but the plans are there). Really, blogging has given me many things, but the last thing I expected was a true friendship.
And at this note I will end my post. The only question I have left is: Did you form a friendship through blogging? And if you did, when did you decide to 'take the leap' and go from a distant online friend to a 'true' friendship?
Ali , I hope this is what you had in mind when you asked me to take over your blog for the day! (but if you don't mind, the book I was reading is screaming at me to be picked up again, and my resolve is cracking!). Hugs!
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