In the middle of another binge watch. This time it is Netflix’s Love is Blind. DO NOT JUDGE! The show sets out to answer the question, “Is love blind?” The premise is that if contestants get to know each other on an emotional level, they will fall in love based purely on that emotional connections. They were not allowed to see each other until they agreed to get engaged. I guess these pod dates for some couples lasted eight plus hours a day. Once the couples meet in person and leave the pods, they go on a vacation to Mexico. They share one room. That raised so many questions for me: What if it was revealed they had nasty feet? And what if those feet touched them when they were sleeping? Did they snore? Most importantly, what about the bathroom issues? Then they go on to move in together and merge their lives. Ending with a wedding where they will either say I do or I don’t. All this happens in a span of 37 days. “This is nuts”, I thought as I watched it. I was so skeptical and critical of every episode. But when I paused for a minute, I realized I was being a hypocrite I knew within 48 hours that I had met the man I was going to marry. Yes, it started with physical attraction. We met at a bar in Newport in May of ’98. DO NOT JUDGE. But when we saw each other that next night, I had that feeling… people always told me when you meet the one, you will know. I knew! Deep down in my gut, I knew! 37 days later we had developed that emotional connection. So much so that we booked a wedding venue (for the year 2000) about 2 months after we met. My mother thought I was crazy… but if it didn’t work out we would only lose the deposit. Funny … that thought never even entered my head. This July we will be married for 20 years. We have built a beautiful life. My final thoughts…Love is blind and it is eyes wide open.

Be yourself; Everyone else is already taken.

— Oscar Wilde.

This is the first post on my new blog. I’m just getting this new blog going, so stay tuned for more. Subscribe below to get notified when I post new updates.

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.

Why do this?

• Because it gives new readers context. What are you about? Why should they read your blog?
• Because it will help you focus you own ideas about your blog and what you’d like to do with it.

The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.

To help you get started, here are a few questions:

• Why are you blogging publicly, rather than keeping a personal journal?
• What topics do you think you’ll write about?
• Who would you love to connect with via your blog?
• If you blog successfully throughout the next year, what would you hope to have accomplished?

You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.

Can’t think how to get started? Just write the first thing that pops into your head. Anne Lamott, author of a book on writing we love, says that you need to give yourself permission to write a “crappy first draft”. Anne makes a great point — just start writing, and worry about editing it later.

When you’re ready to publish, give your post three to five tags that describe your blog’s focus — writing, photography, fiction, parenting, food, cars, movies, sports, whatever. These tags will help others who care about your topics find you in the Reader. Make sure one of the tags is “zerotohero,” so other new bloggers can find you, too.