On Starting Small: Love for the Small-Timers

Have you read the best-selling Harry Potter books or have seen the movies? How about Les Miserables, whether on paper, screen, or stage? In many great productions, there are characters like Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, and Gavroche. While they aren't the biggest parts of the story, people like them make up the entire groundwork of the plot, and without their help, the heroes wouldn't have ever succeeded. Is there something similar in the community?


Someone wise I know always said, "Believe it or not, I was young once.". To this day, I live by that saying in the way that meant everyone started small, from next to nothing, to become who they were known for. I feel the same way about Travels. My first post was pretty badly spelled and punctuated. My topic was barely even touched. However, it was because of that post why things today are different and better. If you're a blogger, it's easy to realize this. If you're not, think of something you have learned to do. When you first started, you couldn't have been as good as a professional. Some rise to the level of such proficiency, and they are supported by those who help them along the way.
Let's go back to the analogy, though. Focusing on the wizard Hermione Granger, one can tell of her skill in wizardry. If she were to be the chosen one, she would easily cast her way out of things. However, she wasn't the chosen one at all. Being friends with the famous Harry Potter, Hermione helped Harry and Ron think their ways through things, as well as magic up a solution. Without Hermione, Harry may have met his end in Godric's Hollow.

Can we find a similarity in our community? Sure! Upon first glance, one can think of official fansites and the smaller ones surrounding them. It's because of support from the community that official fansites have made their statuses. The majority of the blogging community consists of the smaller, non-official players and writers. I am proud to call myself one of them, too. Thinking of the Hermione Granger analogy, one can tell that people in this community, whether official or not, are very talented. Take Emma Dawnrider, for example - she is a very gifted writer who produces very interesting works. She isn't official, but she is a huge influence on the writing culture of the community which may spread to official sites. Then again, it may not. Les Mis'
Gavroche might have known more town gossip and information than Valjean did.
What's my point here, you may ask? What I'm trying to say is that no matter if you're official or not, and no matter how many followers you have, your work and input are important. Even classified as a "small-timer" blogger, I like to think that what I say has to correlation to my status. It's with this kind of hope, and this kind of bond with the community, that has led Travels on. I hope that similar things can be done for us all.

Keep Traveling!

Des