This post is brought to you by four shots of espresso (GBE-R #4 What's my motivation?)

 I wasn't going to participate this week.

I'm really tired y'all. 

I just finished fifty-seven hours, of night shifts, as a nurse on a short-term rehab unit.

I have spent the majority of the day napping. 

I haven't been motivated to EXIST, let alone talk about my motivations for joining this newest version of the GBE.

So, I made myself a sugar-free copycat of Starbucks brown sugar shaken espresso.

Then, I started reading other member's blogs. How they got started blogging, the friends they made  along the way, why they decided to come back...

You know what?

I don't even remember how I came to join the GBE in the first place!

It's been a long time since those Myspace days.

I remember starting my blog.

I remember not even caring if anyone read what I wrote. I just enjoyed having a place to collect my thoughts--a place that was all mine.

I wrote about my kids, my job, and my spouse. I wrote about being poor. Sometimes, I wrote poetry and occasionally a short story.

I remember being delighted when strangers started to comment on what I wrote. It didn't happen often, but when it did--oh, man...that was a rush!! 

I remember being so excited when a relatively popular blogger (who may have shared a name with me...) started reading and commenting on my blog.

I remember being angry when that same blogger blatantly stole my content and (my) her post was at the top of the Myspace rankings.

Somehow, I ended up in the GBE. 

I loved the inspiration that the prompts provided. 

I loved sitting down at my desktop to read all the entries. I loved how one word could bring forth so many different ideas.

I loved the little sneak peeks into other people's lives.

I loved that people thought that what I had to say was worth reading.

I've never been great at connecting with other people in person. I've never been great at making friends.

But, with the GBE, I felt like I BELONGED.

I don't think I've written anything in over ten years--since the last GBE shut down.

Everything is so different now.

My kids are almost grown--some of them ARE grown! I've gone to school and built a whole career for myself. My family has been through both the best and worst of times. 

I have definitely gotten older. Have I gotten any wiser? Eh, that's probably debatable.

But, I guess, after all this time, I may still have something to say. 

And I really can't think of a better place to say it than here with all of you.