When I started blogging late last year I had no idea what I was getting myself into. All I really wanted to do was write, and to be perfectly honest I hadn't given much thought about whether or not my trivial musings and personal slant on food and life would be appreciated at all. It still amazes me that people actually read my blog and faithfully continue to do so everyday.

Hence, from an early age I have journaled as I find it much easier to express my thoughts and observations in written form. To this day I have boxes crammed full of short stories and poetry that I frantically penned as an angst ridden adolescent. As I embarked upon my studies in my early twenties my writing became more technical as I studied human cognition and behaviour. I still kept a journal hidden away for my eyes only, but I would frequent it less often. As I became swamped with motherhood the journal disappeared altogether as who has the time to reflect and write when you're on the job twenty-four-seven?

So last September whilst lying on our favourite beach in Gozo, Huxley casually asked me what I wanted to do with my time now that Hoover was about to start kindergarten. I facetiously replied 'write for Gourmet Traveller' as food and travel is what motivates me most days. He then replied 'why not start your own blog'. As it turned out Gourmet Traveller weren't banging on my door, so I decided to take him up on his suggestion. And so here I find myself most days writing, cooking, meeting people, exchanging ideas, inspired and renewed.

An old friend who I have recently reconnected with on Facebook is now reading my blog. In an email she briefly mentioned that she'd love to catch up over a coffee and chat about a few things and 'exchange life stories and generally chew the fat'.  As you would expect I was thrilled to meet with her as we haven't seen each other for over ten years.  

So last Thursday she arrived at my door with a bunch of Iris's in her arms. We embraced each other as long lost friends and then swiftly came up to speed with the major events of the last decade or so. I must admit I was a little curious as to why she was sitting at my kitchen table after all these years, but the coffee was good and so was the conversation.

                 Photo - Ilva Beretta (2009). She then said that she was here because of something that I had written. I thought to myself 'oh dear god what have I gone and said now'? She reminded me of a recent post were I was reflecting upon our little family and the often arduous periods of my life. As it turns out my friend is currently separated from her husband and is trying to work out who 'she' is after ten years of marriage and four children later. Most of you would have overlooked this post as it was not a food related one. Yet these few simple words resonated with her and sparked a curious kind of possibility within her.

To say I was dumbstruck would be a huge understatement. Yet there we sat with warm cups of coffee in our hands exploring whether or not it was possible to fall in love again with your partner after having fallen out of love with them because of all the hurt that had been said and done.

Over the last couple of months I have asked various individuals 'how do you measure success in blogging'? Is success determined by the number of comments in your comment box or by the amount of people following you on twitter or the amount of 'fans' you have on your Facebook page? Well the answer to this question became very clear to me last Thursday morning.

Success is not measured by popularity, blog ranking or awards. Sure, all those things are lovely as they undoubtedly add kudos to whatever kudos needs to be added to. But what do you do with all that 'stuff' once the hype has settled? What is the true measure of successful blogging? Well I think it has something to do with words that are written with honesty and without fear, as these words have the ability to act as a bridge, so that people are able to connect and are thus able to support each other on this often turbulent journey called life.