For those of you that don’t know, bloggers are pretty social creatures. Not only do we tend to communicate and “hang out” with others who blog about our subject, we have ample opportunity to meet (usually in a virtual sense) bloggers covering a wide variety of topics and representing regions all over the world. In fact, bloggers seek out these opportunities through reading and commenting on other blogs and through various social networking sites. We know that encouraging others strengthens this growing community and, in turn, strengthens our own place or role within that community.

A result of relationships formed online is getting the chance to interact with people and investigate subjects that you might not normally. And some bloggers take it upon themselves to facilitate this by occasionally opening their blogging home to others with guest posts, interviews, or features. I’ve recently been fortunate to share the spotlight at two different sites. You won’t find much about dance or dance classes at either blog, but you’ll find some interesting stuff there! Both are more personal in nature than Dance Advantage, filled with stories and reflections on the everyday and extraordinary aspects of life.

Below, you’ll find a little more about each blog and how I’ve come to appear there.

Citystreams

Citystreams is Cindy’s blogging home. After two years of medical school she dropped out and went on to become a high school teacher. She is also mother to a sweet little girl and the wife of a police officer. She writes about all of these things on her blog, which she says is “cheaper than therapy, easier than scrapbooking and helps me remember the millions of moments, that I would surely forget if I didn’t write them down.” I was first drawn to Cindy’s blog because of her obvious dedication to teaching and because her daughter is around the same age as my son. Recently, she invited other “Blogistas” to answer a few questions about themselves as if they were talking to an old friend they hadn’t seen since high school and I took the bait. It was a fun exercise and may give you a peek inside my life outside of Dance Advantage. Click on the image below to be swept downstream to Citystreams.

Middle Zone Musings

Middle Zone Musings is the blogging home of Robert, a fellow Houstonian whose last name is almost as difficult to spell as my own. Robert has an interesting life story with lots of twists and tuns, ups and downs. His posts are usually his own musings and life lessons delivered in a “down-home” writing style. Each month he hosts a group writing project called What I Learned From…, to which others can submit their own life lessons on a particular subject. As a project for the new year, Robert created a variation of What I Learned – a Blogapalooza, or blogging event that gives others a chance to reflect on their growth in the past year. Participants were to select one post from each month of 2008 and express what it is that they learned from each post/month. This year there are over 100 contributors with their very own guest spot on Middle Zone Musings (and there’s still time to participate). Again, I felt this was a fun exercise and a great opportunity to look back at my first year (well, eight months) of blogging. You can join me in the Middle Zone by clicking on the image below. Be sure to check out what others learned from 2008!

Your Turn?

I hope you enjoy these little diversions featuring yours truly. They were fun to do! In fact, even if you don’t have a blog, both of the exercises above offer great writing exercises for your journal or just because. Perhaps you could answer Cindy’s questions yourself or write your own mini-autobiography in a conversational style. Or, look back at 2008 and decide what you learned from each month in dance, or otherwise. It will teach you a lot about how much you’ve grown and changed over the years or over this past year.

I hope you are enjoying 2009! Thanks for spending a bit of here with me at Dance Advantage!

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