On this last day of the year, I’m reflecting on the last twelve months.

There is still massive division in the United States, and also around the world. Ukraine has spent most of the year beating back their Russian aggressors; I pray the war will end soon.

Covid is still around. In my county there are at least seven hundred people testing positive every day. And people are still dying from it, 144 in my county alone in the last week. Almost all my friends have had it (and almost every one had stopped wearing her mask—just sayin’). Greg and I have managed to stay Covid-free so far.

ARHtistic License had its most-ever views in a single day (469) on September 2, 2022. That day I posted an article called “Quilting Frustration” that since then has been viewed almost 1400 times, more than any other post this year. I take it there are a lot of frustrated quilters out there. I feel your pain.

Quilting has been a big theme for me this year. I decided that to advance my skills, I need a long arm quilting machine. It’s big. Basically, it takes up most of the space in my writing room.

Because of that, I took a six-week blogging break in September and October to declutter that room. (I wrote about my decluttering process: Part 1, Part 2.) The break is reflected in my total views—lower traffic than in 2020 and 2021. Due, no doubt, to the fewer postings. I usually post something every day—this year I had 27 days with no posts.

My ten most-viewed blog posts of 2022. Have you read them yet?

1. Quilting Frustration
2. I’d Rather Be Dancing Kurdish Folk Dances
3. My Daughter’s Wedding
4. Organizing Your Art Supplies
5. M is for Moldova: I’d Rather Be Dancing Moldovan Folk Dances
6. Do I Have the Moxie to Buy a Quilting Machine?
7. NaPoWriMo Day 29 (a poem)
8. I’d Rather Be Dancing Ukranian Folk Dances
9. A is for Art: 10 Amazing Art Blogs and Websites
10. Blogging Break

I was happy to pick up some readers from the folk dance community. This is the first year so many of my dance articles made the top 10. “A is for Art” and “M is for Moldova” were written for the A to Z Blogging Challenge in April. The NaPoWriMo post was for the poetry challenge during April, National Poetry Writing Month.

My ten most-liked blog posts of 2022. Have you seen these?

1. Wordless Wednesday/ Flower of the Day: Impatiens
2. Top 5 Blogging Tips
3. Creative Juice #276
4. NaPoWriMo Day 29
5. Feeling Uninspired? Give Your Creativity a Boost
6. Wordless Wednesday/ Flower of the Day: Flower Border with Fallen Leaves
7. Wordless Wednesday: Braggin’ on our Orange Tree
8. Wordless Wednesday/ Flower of the Day: Purple Velvet Morning Glories
9. Creative Juice #277
10. Flower of the Day: Unidentified Flowering Bush
11. Wordless Wednesday: Avocet and Stilt
12. Wordless Wednesday: Cactus Garden
13. NaPoWriMo Day 10

(Yes, I know that’s more than 10. There was a five-way tie for spot #9, and I didn’t want to leave any out.)

Wordless Wednesday and Flower of the Day are two photography challenges. I’ve often said that photographers are super supportive of other bloggers. They enter challenges and then go see what other people post, and they make kind and helpful comments. I’m not surprised that half of my most-liked posts are photos.

Creative Juice is a regular weekly (Friday) feature, a list of curated articles that I find online and that I expect will interest my readers. Some of my readers tell me that they always make sure to visit ARHtistic License on Fridays.

I’m a little surprised that with almost 1400 views, “Quilting Frustration” did not make the top ten liked articles. Did most who read it hate it? I’m also surprised that only one post from the most-viewed list made it to the most-liked list.

A lot of bloggers (me included) don’t make money blogging. We’re not selling products on our websites. We’re not acting as affiliates for other businesses. But we have expenses. I pay extra not to have ads on ARHtistic License.

I (and many other bloggers) am/are not in it for money. We do it because we think we have insights to share. So I ask that if you read something you like on ARHtistic License, please click the like button, or write a brief comment. It’s the equivalent of a smile. It makes my day.