And here we are at the end of another May. For a second year in a row I pulled off writing a post each day of the month. Some were more detailed and deeper and emotional, while others were more to the point or superficial, but I think they all at least had something to say.
I was talking with a co-worker just last night about blogging when she mentioned she was thinking about starting one. I’ve had this one going now for about a week more than five years. It’s difficult to remember a time when I didn’t have this outlet available. I started it as another way to keep the writing muscles in shape and I feel it’s helped in that regard, but I think it’s also revealed quite a bit about me, and probably more than I originally intended. If someone didn’t feel they knew me very well and wanted to get a clearer picture of who I am, they'd only need to run through the some of the archive listed off to the left of the browser window and read. I’m pretty sure that between the things I chose to write about and what I said and how I said it, they would get a good connect-the-dots idea. The twist to that is how I’ve been broadcasting the makings of that perception on the Internet for the world to see while I'm so closely guarded in real life. It's still surprising when someone in my daily life will reference a particular post they read. Sure, I’ll see comments and replies show up, on the Facebook links I post more than anywhere else, but even after five years I can’t reliably say who reads these posts regularly, who might click on them occasionally, and who doesn’t even know they exist. The writer side of me would be very interested in knowing that, but the introvert side of me has a tiny mental hitch every time I find out about someone new who has read any of this.
When I finished last May, I thought about the progress in terms of numbers: Likes, comments, retweets, favorites, hits. This year I followed that all with more curiosity than active interest. Not sure what the difference was between this year and last year, but pulling back on that made the whole process more enjoyable. Hopefully that was reflected in the posts for anyone who read them along the way.
I also remember being pretty burned out on posting by the time I reached the end of the month last year. Happily that isn’t the case this time. It might be a week or so until I get some new content up again, but I am making it a goal to post more actively as my actual summer vacation gets underway, as well as beyond that. This upcoming break has a unique to feel to it, and I’m interested to see where it goes. But of course that’s still two calendar weeks away and I have a lot to do between now and then, most of which involves closing down my eighteen years in fifth grade.
But once that’s taken care of, and I’m able to switch over to my second job being full-time instead of moonlighting, and when the school year kicks in again and all the consistency to which I’ve grown accustomed will be redefined? You can count on me having something to say about it.
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