Earlier this week, Darren Rowse of ProBlogger (an awesome resource for anyone who blogs) posed a challenge: publish a list of 7 links to posts that you and others have written that respond to 7 specific categories.

1. Your first post
2. A post you enjoyed writing the most
3. A post which had a great discussion
4. A post on someone else’s blog that you wish you’d written
5. Your most helpful post
6. A post with a title that you are proud of
7. A post that you wish more people had read

Since I started Listen & Learn back in September of 2008 (almost two years ago!) and have written over 450 posts, choosing just 7 will indeed be a challenge.  But I always enjoy going back and reading through the archives, so this should be a fun project!

1. First post:  An Introduction
Luckily, this one was easy :)  I posted my first blog entry on September 4, 2008, not knowing exactly what I was doing or having a clear goal.  I’ve learned a lot since then!

2. Post I enjoyed writing the most:  The Best Birthday Gift Ever
This post came exactly one year later, on Listen & Learn’s first birthday.  That was the day I reached my Kickstarter fundraising goal of $2,000, which I later used to record my first studio album.  Needless to say, I had a huge smile on my face as I typed each and every word.

3. Post which had a great discussion:
Halloween Song Topic Contest
Last fall, I asked my readers to suggest topics for a new Halloween-themed song.  They came up with some extremely creative ideas, which they shared not only in the blog comments, but also via email, Facebook, and Twitter.  The winning topics inspired the songs Patrick & Polly Pumpkin, All the Candy I’ll Eat, and Costumes on Parade.

4. Post on someone else’s blog I wish I’d written:
Black Eyed Peas + Boomwhackers
My friend and fellow music therapist Kat Fulton is an amazing percussionist, and in her blog post, she shared a video she created for her boomwhackers-only version of “I Gotta Feeling” by the Black Eyed Peas.  The song and video were simply awesome, and although I wish I’d come up with them and the corresponding post, I’ll leave the heavy duty percussion to Kat!

5. Most helpful post: Safety Comes First
From time to time, a reader emails me with a request for a song on a specific subject.  Although I can’t honor each and every request because of my busy schedule, I sure do try!  This particular song post stemmed from one of those email readers, and not only did it fulfill her need, but quite a few others were able to benefit from it, as well.  (Okay, I had to include a runner-up: 1 Cool Bass Line = 2 Singable Stories.)

6. Post with a title I’m proud of:
Publicity, Performance, and Praise, Oh My!
You know while trying to answer this one?  That I am not very creative when it comes to writing blog post titles.  Usually, I’ll use the title of the song I’m posting or keep it short and to the point.  The title of the post I chose was inspired, of course, by The Wizard of Oz (one of my favorite movies of all time).

7. Post I wish more people had read: Taming the Tidal Wave
This particular post doesn’t necessarily fit in with my regular subject matter, which is probably why it didn’t receive much feedback.  I wrote it last winter, when I was juggling too much on my plate and feeling completely stressed.  I know that other music therapists, and everyone else, for that matter, have been in similar situations, and the strategies I listed might just be as helpful to them as they were to me.

Listen & Learn has definitely grown up a lot since that first post I linked to in #1, and I have a feeling that if I were to do the same challenge a year from now, I would have new links to share for almost every category.  I would love to see some of my fellow blogger friends follow suit…how ’bout it?