Reaching A Milestone with Hubpages With my First 500 Followers

While checking my email, one stood out among all the rest. The title read, "vocalcoach - you now have 500 followers!" I eagerly scrolled down to read the following:

"Hi vocalcoach,

You have hit a pretty impressive milestone—you now have 500 Followers!

Fun fact: Five Hundred is the national card game in Australia. It is usually played by 4 people, so you could have 125 games going on simultaneously if your Followers played amongst themselves!"

I read this message 3 times to make sure I had interpreted it correctly.  Then, I whisked my way to  my hubpages profile to double check the numbers.  There they were, in black font - 500 followers.  I proudly sat back and stared at my astonishing achievement.  (You'd think that I had just given birth).

As my son, Randy, passed by my desk, I casually announced "Randy, look, I have 500 followers on Hubpages!"  "Uh, good for you mom", (he tried to look impressed). Still feeling the need to celebrate, I phoned my sister and shared my good news with her."  "Is 500 followers a big deal?", she asked. And before I could explain, she switched to another subject, never to return to my reason for calling her. Then, I remembered my friend, Judy, in California.  Judy is always interested in my writing and I send her a copy of almost everything I write.  I couldn't wait to share my excitement with her.  I just knew she would be over-joyed, like me.  " Well, that's very nice dear...now how's the weather in Nashville?" 

You have to be a hubber to appreciate another hubber.  Lesson learned.

Supporting our hub buddies and friends is a win-win situation. You give...and you get. And you get just about as much as you put into it. The benefits are sometimes life-changing.

For me, on a personal note, writing for hubpages has helped me to survive the passing of one of my two beautiful sons, Todd. It wasn't until I found hubpages and the compassionate people who make up the hubpage family, that I found a new strength within me, leading me in a new direction - taking me on a new, fulfilling and peaceful path.

Writing has been proven to be highly therapeutic. According to Wikipedea:

Writing therapy is a form of expressive therapy that uses the act of writing and processing the written word as therapy. Writing therapy posts that writing one's feelings gradually eases pain and strengthens the immune system. In addition, when you spend time visitng hubs, rating and leaving comments of value, your following increases, which is what happened to me.

I did'nt  set out to "win friends and enfluence people" in the hopes of increasing my own following. In fact, It took me some time before I even realized that by increasing my list of hub friends and followng them, they would do the same for me. Duhhhhh.

But, for me, it isn't just about others reciprocating. It's that I have learned to care more about my fellow hubbers than myself. The caring develops as time goes on, especially for closer relationships that "knit together" and form a lasting bond. When I hear that a member of my hub family is hurting, emotionally or physically, I want to reach out and comfort and help them. Sometimes, I even try to help by going to the extreme.

Being a spiritual (not religious) person, and being a little on the dramatic side, I try to help others by positioning myself in a place of comfort, light a candle, or candles, and with absolute quiet I begin to breathe very deeply. I follow this with visualizing my friend, and allowing the flame from the candle to find it's way to where the hurt is. The light surrounds that person providing healing energy and peace. I pray.

I love reading the endless variety of articles available on hubpages. If the hub happens to be authored by someone I follow, I feel like I am connecting with a member of my own family. I enjoy searching for newbies and contacting them. After I give a quick welcome, I offer support and check back from time to time to read and rate their new hubs as they come in. The friendships that I have made here on hubpages are the best. I can always be assured that I will receive support and sincere comments. When I do, those kind comments encourage me to write more.

A recent example would be the poem I wrote for my sister. Several hubbers read it and asked me to write more about our relationship. And a new hub is on the drawing board now, thanks to the many kind comments I have recieved.

Then there are those "off" days when nothing seems to go right and I just want to crawl into bed and hide for the rest of the day. I'm sure you know the feeling. But that all changes, when I decide to check and see how my hubfriends are doing and visit a hub or two.

I am always better off after visiting a hub or two. There are times, when I actually get a "high" because I just learned something new. There's no getting around it, I am getting the education of a lifetime here on hubpages.  And if I continue to learn and grow like this, I will one day surely "become smarter than a 5th grader". (TV show).

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If you gave me a book containing all the articles on hubpages, I wouldn't read it.  If you gave me a book with all the hubpage articles I have read since joining 9 months ago, I still would not read it.  But give me the opportunity to read and study all the hubs written by people I have come to know and respect through this great website - and give me a purpose to go with it - and a challenge or two, and I cannot stop. To hell with the unmade bed, bathing the dog, or the endless list of "to-do's".  I am addicted to hubpages.

My mind is sharper then it's ever been.  My vocabulary is growing and I am learning how to become a better writer.  I own an endless list of "How To's" along with "tips" to make my life easier and healthier.  I now, not only know what "Key Tool" means, but I  have actually learned how to use it.  My confidence has grown and soon my bank account will too.

I am closer to living up to my potential.  My creativity no longer lies dormant and waiting to be set free.  I am closer to discovering who I am.

Yes, I acknowledge my hard work as a bonafied hubber and the milestone that I reached.  But  my desire is to reach a bigger milestone - to recognize every person as a contibution to my life, whether here at hubpages or otherwise.

I make it a point to put myself in my readers mind when creating content. I want my hub to be helpful and inspiring. Here are a few questions I ask myself before I publish it.

• How can my hub topic reach a wider audience?
• Is my content clear and concise?
• In what way can each reader profit from my hub?
• How is my content unique in it's own sense?
• Is my hub entertaining or "just the facts, mam"?
• Have I planted a laugh somewhere in my blog?
• Why does one of my hubs attract more visitors than others?
• Are my paragraphs short for easy reading?
• Have I used words that the reader will understand?
• Did I remember to summarize?
• Why would anyone read my article?

If a person is going to take valuable time to read my hub, I have a responsibility to make it original, entertaining and useful. During my 10 months as a writer on hubpages, I have learned so much exciting and valuable information. I have much left to learn, especially about things like keywords, back-linking, tracking, improved writing skills, google and ad-words. And that's just a drop in the proverbial bucket.

So, what do I owe my followers who have made it possible for me to reach a milestone with hubpages?

My best. . .my very best.