Looking Back at 10 Years of Blogging

Can you believe it? I've had this blog going for ten years. Yes. Ten years and 487 blog posts!

My very first entry was Feb. 4th, 2007, after Super Bowl XLI (41) between the the Colts and the Bears, in which I was ranting about how boring it was or something. Anyway, I still remember that night very vividly. I lived in Park Slope, Brooklyn and I was working as a journalist at the time. I don't remember precisely what possessed me to start a blog, but I do remember being very enthusiastic about it at the time. That enthusiasm has waxed and waned over the years -- from 30 posts in my first year, to a low of just four (4!) in 2010, to an all-time high of 82 in 2016. My subjects of coverage have changed pretty drastically as well.

Generalized 10th Anniversary Thoughts on this Blog and Blogging in General:

• I used to call this blog "The Libra" until a friend suggested it was pretty cheesy to name a blog after your zodiac sign. I think I changed it in 2011, sort of the second "era" of my blogging career.
• Looking back, it seems I used care about politics a lot more than I do today. I'm astonished at how many (fairly) in-depth blog posts I made about politics and political news in 2007 - 2009, but that's probably because I was pretty absorbed in the Obama rise and election to the presidency. Those were heady days, my friends! We had such dreams then...
• The distribution of the topics -- Politics, Sports, Food/Wine, Travel, Literature, Fashion -- provides an interesting glimpse into what was on my mind at various points over the past 10 years. If for no other reason than that, it's been worthwhile
• As I said, I don't remember why I started this blog in the first place, but I wish I could go back and thank my 2007 self for doing it. As a writer, it's absolutely one of my proudest accomplishments and the bizarre thing is: I'm more into it now than ever! I can't say that about many hobbies or pastimes in my life.
• As a writer, it's phenomenal practice and I think anyone who calls themselves a "writer" should have a blog. Full stop. I don't care whether you say it's useless, or no one will read it, or whatever. Both of those excuses are absolutely NOT TRUE. It's not useless -- writing is writing, in whatever form you're doing it, it's practice -- and people read it! When I was traveling in South America, for example, my family and friends stayed informed of my adventures through my blog. Some of them (okay, how many I'm not sure) still read it. 
• It can actually lead somewhere if you're dedicated. Where? I don't know! But find out!

If there is one complete, rock-solid truth that I know about myself, it's this: I am a writer. Ten years ago I got really serious about my writing, which led me to get an MFA, which led me to do all sorts of interesting stuff and meet some incredible friends. After my MFA I -- until fairly recently -- I seriously questioned whether I should "continue" writing and whether it was something I was any good at at or would ever be successful at. There were times when the overriding answer to all of those questions, from deep in my heart, was NO. 

But I kept on writing. Never stopped. Could not stop even if I wanted to. I do it because it's a compulsion. It's not something I can turn off. When I was 28 I was compelled to write fiction. When I was 31 I was compelled to write concert reviews. At 37 I'm compelled to write blog posts about soccer. All along I've written fiction, screenplays, letters, plays, novels, rants, humor pieces and just about every other form a person can write in. I've questioned my writing and my future as a writer many times, but I never stopped doing it. I can't. And even if I did, I'd still be a "writer" because of the way I look at the world and (over) analyze things with my own eye and in my own voice.

So...people may pooh-pooh blogging for whatever reason they wan to. And if this blog disappeared tomorrow, it would make no difference to anyone in the world except me. But to me, having kept a blog -- an active blog -- going for 10 years and nearly 500 blog posts -- is one of my most proud accomplishments as a writer and it's also a priceless glimpse into 10 amazing years of my life, something no photo album could ever capture. 

Try it! You won'd regret it.