As I thought about a blog entry for my birthday, I wondered: What’s the most self-indulgent entry I could possibly make? Last year, I posted a little video about myself on my birthday.

It’s kind of a milestone birthday. Not one that ends in a zero, but one that ends in a five.

I think for my self-indulgent birthday post, I will celebrate all the wonderful blog gifts I’ve had since my last birthday:

• Readers: I now have more than 150 most days; one day in the past week reached 175. Those are pretty tiny numbers in Internet terms, but they represent steady growth, and I am grateful for every reader.
• Commenters: Thank you for all thoughtful and supportive comments of the last year. Keep ‘em coming.
• Redesign: Well, this one wasn’t a gift; A Storied Career’s parent, Quintessential Careers, paid dearly for it. But I’m still grateful to have a nicer, more reader-friendly blog as of last May. Still frequently question my adamant decision to stick with Movable Type, which I do not consider to be intuitive to use. But if it’s good enough for Barack Obama …
• Q&A interviewees: The fact that 32 brilliant story practitioners (including seven not yet published) have responded to my Q&A queries is possibly the greatest gift I’ve received in the last year. Many others have committed to the project (if you are one of them, your Q&A is always welcome; no pressure).
• Resources: I am thankful for the gift of a never-ending flow of fascinating story resources and information that guarantees this blog will never want for material.
• Learning opportunities: I’m grateful for events like International Storytelling Weekend in DC and Terrence Gargiulo’s wonderful webinars and fantastic books that have contributed to my storytelling learning.
• My own book: To be honest, when I wrote a popular-press manuscript to accompany my PhD dissertation, I wasn’t that optimistic that it would be published. I’m so tickled that JIST Publishing found value in Tell Me About Yourself and that people seem to be interested in it. Having a storytelling book makes me feel like even more a part of the storytelling community.

And I think that’s my final point: I’m grateful for the wonderfully generous storytelling community — always willing to share.

Happy birthday to me and thank you for the gift of being you and for being here.