blip forever

First of all - Happy New Year!!! Hope it's a good one for you all!

Well, I've spent much of today browsing through all the 'blip' blips and I've just been so overwhelmed by it all.

What does blip mean to me?
Where do I start?

I love the feeling of belonging you get from being part of this unique community - even though I don't browse entries as much as I used to. Just knowing that there are so many nice people out there makes life a little better. I like to hear about the friendships, and the people who log onto blip for company and to pass the time. It's a great way to pass the time. Every now and again I like to look at photos from all around the world. Where else can I see beautiful landscapes, fascinating portraits (usually with a story attached) and just have a nose into the lives of ordinary folk everywhere.

But mostly I blip for me and my family. I find it very therapeutic. It's a chance to put things (good or bad) into perspective at the end of each day. And a way to communicate with family members afar. I also love the way it changes the way you see things. For over a year I took my new DSLR everywhere; everyone knew I was always on the search for a blip - my children especially! Then work took over and I got myself an iPhone for easy blipping. To start with having the perfect picture for the day mattered but now I can cope with a discrepancy. Sometimes I'll post anything because I have something to say. Sometimes the photo says it all and not many words are needed.

So, how important is blip?

Well, the fact that many of us refer to last minute snaps as 'emergency blips' says a lot! Not having a photo to post as the day comes to a close is regarded as an emergency. Ok, I don't post daily anymore, but I do miss that getting into bed and realising I don't have a photo panic! The recent activity has made me blip more often over the last few weeks and I'm definitely getting the buzz again.

What are the best bits?

I love looking back over my blips and being reminded of so many things that would otherwise have been forgotten, or at least buried in a terabyte of hard drive storage somewhere. Blip makes you pick out what really matters. There aren't thousands of pictures of me as a child, but the few I have are engraved in my memory. Blip does that in our world of information overload. My blip journal tells my story and that of my three wonderful 'emergency blip subjects'. I've even blipped a pile of dirty washing. I wouldn't have taken a photo of that normally, but it makes me smile to look back on it. It's part of my life.
Plus blip gives me the chance to see what my nieces and nephew (and their parents) have been up to. Checking in on their journals is part of my daily routine. I'd miss them so much. Other forms of social media are not the same. People don't open their hearts in quite the same way.

We have the opportunity to save blip, so that we can keep saving and sharing our humble lives. I've pledged - please do so too if you can.

www.blipfuture.com