A few weeks ago I cared about my hair, obsessed about my hair. The rockstar who’d tamed my curls with the flick of a wrist had gone missing.  You all know the story and the happy ending. Blog readers scoured the internet and databases to find me her email address and phone number. She’s no longer doing hair, I learned. Today, gasp, I did my own, despite a photoshoot with USA TODAY. I have two words for you: fr-izz. I will live, but if said rockstar changes her mind, I’m first in line. It actually turns out that her sister is a reader of my blog as well. Small world we say. Yesterday, I felt the world get much smaller. 

On Myspace I received an incredible note. Whatever stress I’m going through or drama I perceive or create, this blog is a gift for me, and I am thankful for the friends I have made through it.

"I am in Baghdad and working as an intelligence analyst. Your articles have had perfect timing for me, despite the long hours I check in once in a while to see what you are up to. As you have been busy stressing about your book readings I have been preparing a brief for General Petraeus. I have been so incredibly nervous. Yesterday I briefed him and it went well. Of course there are things I wish I could have done differently, but all in all I am content. It is really one of the pinnacle points for an analyst to get a chance to share what we think about a situation for about 10-15 minutes with him, and he is quite the gentlemen and extremely intelligent. I had to give myself a pep talk the night before and literally rehearsed the brief in my head while falling asleep, practicing a conversational tone and pretending it was like rehearsing lines for a play.

Something I told myself is I need to realize there are just as many people who have supported me to get me to this point and believe in me as there are negative detractors who look to tear me down, this helps me balance my perspective and keeps me on game without being defensive. And, at the end of the day it is my opinion that matters. So, best of luck to you in all you are currently involved in and thank you for putting yourself out there.

Haha – I know this is much more than you asked for, and maybe you stopped reading after the first line, but it feels great to write it out."

When journalists ask me why I blog, I wish I could point them to emails like this. I receive so many touching notes, so encouraging, heartfelt, human. It’s a reminder, both in the writing and the reading, that we’re not alone in the things we face and feel. Thank you for sharing all you do with me.