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Community Corner

What I've Learned from Open Doors

Today is my last post for Woodbury Patch. It's time to move on. Forge ahead. See what else the writing world has in store for me.

Can you believe it?! I have written more than 100 columns for Woodbury Patch since its launch in 2010.

Each week I have pondered and researched interesting, educational or amusing topics for readers. That’s you. The folks who click, read and share the wanderings of my mind.

Today is my last post for Woodbury Patch.

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It’s time to move on. Forge ahead. See what else the writing world has in store for me.

I’ll take with me what I’ve learned from you. That you enjoy reading about:

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  • Football
  • Good books
  • Movies made from good books
  • Fashion
  • Parenting
  • Faith

You are an incredibly encouraging bunch. For this, I thank you. Your enthusiastic and regular reading inspires me. I only hope that some of what I’ve written on these pages has inspired you.

Writing for Patch has reinforced this wisdom—that walking through open doors of opportunity is a worthy endeavor. Woodbury Patch editor Kris Janisch opened such a door to me. By Twitter message, oddly enough, Janisch invited me to write for you. The opportunity has allowed me to flex my writing muscles and become more tune with my community. Our community. Patch has provided a stage from which I can tell you a story, make you think and hopefully make you smile.

Similar opportunities surely exist for you. A door somewhere stands open, welcoming you to peek inside, to take a step and try something new. Maybe you should blog for Patch, run a race, visit a church or take a class. Go.

Discover what you can still learn and in what new ways your life can be enriched. Better yet, how you can enrich the lives of others.

As for me, I have stepped through a different door. In May, I signed on as a staff writer for Tigeroak Publications. Daily, my fingers pound the keyboard in search of words that will interest, encourage and inspire readers of Tigeroak’s community lifestyle magazines.

I also continue to read and write literary fiction. Last spring, my work was chosen as a finalist and given honorable mention in the Loft Mentor Series. I will keep knocking on that door. It stands open only a crack. Sometimes it tricks me into believing that it’s locked up tight.

But some doors require a bit of jiggling on the handle, a patient search for the right key or a shoulder nudged into a sweet spot. Persistence.

I’ll miss you on these pages each week. But I’m still around. Stay in touch Woodbury friends and neighbors. Say hello the next time you see me at the grocery store, at the gas station or on the sidelines of a youth sporting event.

Look for me on Facebook (facebook.com/angelajohnson.writer) and on Twitter @wordsbyangela, Google+ and Pinterest. I regularly post my work and other interesting tidbits on these sites.

The door is open. Come visit me online, and please continue to click, read and share.

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The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?