A decade

What do you enjoy most about writing?

Wow, my blog is a decade old! I started writing it not long after having my first baby when, finding myself in a new big city with a new life to care for, a certain loneliness and fantasy for making this new life and its records as flawless as possible.

I’m an introverted extrovert and so this blog became my friend at a time I felt vulnerable. Someone who I could email messages to spilling all.

At that time nobody in my real life was aware I was journaling. In actual fact I developed an eclectic tribe of friends as the posts increased. Others, to whom I could glimpse underneath the facade and get to know what was going on for them often times without having any idea who they actually were. And bloggers sometimes just disappear. Pseudonyms creating enigmas never to be seen again. What wondery.

In those days, blogging was still novel and I think there were real genuine possibilities of becoming a viral hit and even going on to pick up publishing deals. There were some bloggers with HUGE followings and old style Twitter was a great way to meet other writers and connect the account dots outside this forum. But a full time job.

A blogger lucky enough to be selected to feature on WordPress’s “freshly pressed” list was liable to garner thousands upon thousand of new readers. This was a coveted opportunity that sadly never made it my way, and actually truth be told, made blogging feel less of an anything goes non-judgmental space and more of a polished conformist space. I think they’ve scrapped this feature from what I can see of WP rebooted.

I love to write because I have learnt much about myself in retrospective. I sometimes run dark, reaching for the site more when I do, but occasional spates of daily writing practice is great to look back on, even if to verify the “this too shall pass” mantra is so so true.

Ok, so new shit and strife will come, but nothing bad ever lasts forever, even if it feels like it in the depths of agony, yearning for recovery of one’s new-old aplomb.

Seeing lots of other changes, I love my regular interactions, but sigh sometimes when I see the AI Bot accounts getting involved in Likes. It just feels empty. But AI Bots will probably soon be our biggest devotees, harvesting all that we reveal about being human. I sometimes wonder about that and worry.

Here’s to all of you, thanks for being here over the days, months, years – Bot or not x