So I’ve been sharing some deep and raw moments on here, lately. (And don’t worry, the next chapter in ‘Keeping it Light‘ is still coming on Wednesday!)

But something unexpected happened on Saturday that was a pleasant moment, and I thought I’d share it with you all as well. Show the other side of the balance.

If you’re new here, you may not know that last year I wrote a novel-length series about my travels in Nepal. I titled it “In Praise of Character in the Bleak Inhuman Loneliness”, and it, too, deals with a heartbreak. (I’m a bit predictable, really).

So, I wrote this series, posted all the entries to my blog last year, and since then, have more or less let it sit. You can read it, here. There’s a link in the navbar, but besides that, really, I don’t promote it.

Anyways. People still land on those entries, now and then. A few of the chapters have achieved good SEO, and they bring in pretty much daily traffic.

But something interesting happened yesterday: I saw a person read the entire story, start to finish.

Normally this is hard to observe, because people read a few chapters here, a few chapters there… And although I do watch my stats, I don’t watch them that closely.

On Saturday, I checked my site stats in the morning, and saw a few hits. Later in the day, I saw a person in Nepal had read 20 pages. Then 30 pages. Then 50 pages. When the day had finished, they’d read all 111 chapters. They’d read my book, start to finish.

And I’d seen them do it.

Now, people have read that story before — actually, I got more traffic on that story than this one — but still. There was something really cool about watching one person start to read, become intrigued, and continue all the way through to the finish.

I did nothing but watch that number increase throughout the day — and it was incredibly satisfying. To create is one of the greatest things we can do as humans, I think. We create to give something to others. And there’s no feeling better than seeing someone else enjoy what you’ve created.

So I’d just like to take this moment to say THANK YOU, again, to all the people who have read my stuff, now or in the past. Thank you to everyone who has reached out, sent me messages, called, commented, liked my Facebook posts or even clicked on these stories. I appreciate you all.

Obviously I could swallow this stuff up, move on.

But as long as can find value and meaning in what I write, and I can create some measure of beauty from these messy situations, I will continue to do so.

It’s always nice to get a reminder of that.

Much love,

Daniel