I do. I definitely do. And it’s not just me that cares, it seems. Many a blogger who has been fortunate enough to be Freshly Pressed echoes this sentiment.
Because being Freshly Pressed is like getting an almighty slap on the back, the sort that tells you you’re doing something okay in life (or in the blogging world, in this case).
A few days back I checked my emails and in amongst a load of rubbish I spotted ‘Congrats, you’ve been Freshly Pressed’. Really? Yes. A personally addressed email.
Turns out the girl done good.
A sweet moment
Out of 1,191,930 new posts, mine was one of ten selected by the WordPress editors to feature on the front page for that day. How the hell they found my lil’ ol’ blog, who knows?!
I read back over the post and checked that there weren’t any glaring problems. It made me giggle: here was a post that was far from my favourite in terms of creativity and flow. It didn’t even contain any of my own pictures, goddammit!
But apparently it was good enough for them and I wasn’t about to complain, oh no.
I anticipated the flurry of visitors and prepared myself mentally for any harsh criticism. Whilst the high increase in traffic and blog followers was welcome, the very real potential to be publically slated remained at the the back of my mind. But of course any nastiness didn’t come. Why should it? Feedback and banter and warmth shone through instead.
So thanks for sticking by me, previous followers and bloggers extraordinaire, and a warm welcome to all those new to my site. I’m glad you’re joining me on my travels! And thanks also to WordPress for connecting us.
After a year of blogging every couple of days, being Freshly Pressed has given me a little boost, a skip in my travel writing step, if you like. It’s a bit of recognition, something that we all crave (and I’m not kidding myself here, I got lucky).
But being selected has also planted a seed. I’ve found myself pondering on how to get Freshly Pressed again. And again. Without understanding the logic of how I was selected in the first place, this is another unhealthy focus that I think I’ll have to quit. Now.
Back to what I was doing before, then.
Related articles
- FRESHLY PRESSED! Why did I skip these? Things I missed out on in Bolivia (travelola.org)
- Today’s Freshly Pressed (wordpress.org)
- Freshly Pressed and why it’s good for you and your WordPress blog! (alexofarabia.wordpress.com)
- Quantifying the Freshly Pressed Effect on WordPress.com and How to Get Featured (urbansemiotic.com)
- Featured on the Freshly Pressed Page (seattleseconds.wordpress.com)
- 3 Worse Things Than Being “Freshly Pressed” (According To A Pair Of Jeans We Interviewed (nottheworstnews.com)
travelola 
Keep it up!
I will do! You too… keep enjoying the travelling and writing. I’m enjoying practising my Spanish on your blog 🙂
Genial, viajemos juntas! Bienvenida!
Sweet as! Yeow! Let the good times role!
Definitely a nice little boost, eh?! Came at a good time when a few wobbly travel and settling moments were surfacing. Life, it seems, is still sweet!
yay!!! congrats! i love your blog, you deserve it!
i wanna be freshly pressed too! 🙂
Thanks Liz. Keep up the positivity on your blog and I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you re: getting Freshly Pressed. Regardless of whether you get Freshly Pressed or not, you’ve clearly got loads of readers who love what you do!
you are so sweet! thanks! and, of course, i write for the sake of writing. it is like breathing. i appreciate your support!
finola biodynamica!
Hah! Can’t say I’ve ever been called that before!
Congrats! Everyone needs a little recgonition once in awhile.
Thanks for stopping by and commenting. It looks like you’ve made a big life decision and are doing some amazing travels too! Keep dreaming big, drinking in your travels and writing.
Your writing is fresh and your subject is interesting, why not you? 🙂 Congratulations!!!
Thanks Anita and thank you also for your ongoing support!
I’ve really enjoyed your blog and think you definitely deserve the recogniton! When I was “Freshly Pressed” I don’t think I got an email and didn’t know what it meant, so it came as a bit of a shock! But has helped me to stay motivated to keep posting 🙂 Cheers!
Congrats – well deserved!
Thanks David! And thanks for your ongoing support. Keep travelling with me!
¡felicidades! sigue así
¡Gracias! And I will keep at it. I’m glad that you’re still reading the blog!