Farewell WordPress.com and thank you, thank you!

Sarcophagus known as the "Muses Sarcophagus", representing the nine Muses and their attributes. Marble, first half of the 2nd century AD, found by the Via Ostiense. Albani Collection, then Musei Capitolini; seized by Napoleon Bonaparte; exchanged in 1815; Louvre. Source: Jastrow (2006)/Wikimedia Commons

The switch to janestreetclayworks.com has taken place and I’m happy to say it looks beautiful and the same (give me a few days to catch everything up!). WordPress Happiness Engineers did a lovely job! Throughout the day, I’ve been thinking of WordPress, of the amazing opportunity it offers. I’m also drafting this on Canadian Thanksgiving and am feeling especially grateful and thankful. Fully sated on a full T Day feast, I’ve been reflecting. Hew Sutton, of Automattic, has been helping or days. It turns out that my e-mails to him had been bouncing back, so he had not received my mail letting him know I was ready for the changeover. Luckily, he saw my Thanksgiving post several days ago when I was fretting. He commented on my post and let me know the Big Event, the changeover, had already taken place. Now, there are a few other things to do…with my domain and then the site redirect, which transfers people and nibbly bits from this site to the other. I have yet to go behind the scenes to view the dashboard on my new site, as I just learned of its existence today and I’ve been celebrating the holiday, so haven’t had a chance. Before I leave this site, I want to say a few words of thanks to WordPress. Through it, I was able to reconnect with my Muse. No small feat. I’ve written before but not regularly for some time. WordPress gave me a venue through which I could not only express myself but do so in a graphically appealing way. Simply put, it has been an incredible experience. On Oct. 26, 2110, I started something for fun, to document my return to ceramics and explore

all things ceramic through writing, graphics, photography, and video. This publishing tool called WordPress has everything anyone could ever need, tools aplenty, lovely ‘themes,’ and very responsive technical support. That’s where someone like Hew and his colleagues come in. They must have infinite patience to be able to work with an non-techie like me! But, they are warm and cheerful and, at all times, professional. Today, in the back of my mind, I’ve been blubbering internally at the thought that I’m leaving wordpress.com in days few. As an Adult Third Culture Kid, it’s hard to leave an established community. I must comfort myself by acknowledging that wordpress.org will undoubtedly be as welcoming. For the next two weeks, I’ll also be able to receive help with the new site, thanks to this guided transfer. Tomorrow, I will start investigating it, to see what it’s like and how it differs. I was afraid to go this route, I must admit. Having a hosted site means my training wheels are now officially off. But, I know if I’m patient and take it slowly, I’ll be able to figure it out just the way I did with this site. With a little help from my friends… Thank you, Hew, and everyone at WordPress for giving me a very memorable experience… Things are happening at the right time. How lovely…on Thanksgiving Day! — Jan 🙂