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2011
One Down: The Blogiversary
I started this blog exactly one year ago, in the midst of a painful breakup with Lieu that turned out to be not the end of the road, but a fork. We just spent the weekend together, and it was lovely. Blah blah blah, a million words later…I love that boy, come what may.
I’ve written just over 100 posts since then. My intention was to use this space to work out boring histrionic navel-gazing stuff, thereby sparing my support network some of my neuroses, and lord knows I have done plenty of that. But, being the insecure blabbermouth that I am, I also told some of my friends about the blog and the thought of their eyes seeing these pages spurred me to write a better class of post, and to have a little fun once in a while. I think I’ve done some of the best writing I’ve ever done anywhere in this blog. Sometimes, I can even read old posts without wanting to compulsively delete them.
Of all the amazing things that have happened as a result of starting this blog, number one is how it’s reminded me that I need to write. The regular practice is good for my soul, and the more I do it the more it soothes and centers me. It’s like yoga for super lazy narcissists.
Having people in my life quote my own words back to me has been a close second; it’s surreal. A couple of my posts–Six Types of 36-Year-Old Men and 8 Signs It’s PMS and Not a Worrisome New Mental Illness–have gone ever so slightly viral, and that is an unnerving and exhilarating feeling.
But day in and day out, it’s the comments and emails I get that make this endeavor worthwhile. I love hearing from you and knowing you are reading and nodding along. Thank you so much for doing that.
I can’t wait to see what we’re all up to a year from now.
(I have been playing around with my “Best in Show” list. Check it out and let me know if you think anything does or doesn’t belong.)
first off, happy, happy blog-iversary! this little outpost is a real find. i dig reading your work.
second: i started blogging for largely the same reasons you list – romantic disenchantment and a general itchiness with my position in life. blogging has been better than therapy (and trust me – tried both). i’m a stronger, better writer now that i write for the little coterie of people who’ve reached out to me. having an audience has been huge. i was always a writer. i wrote my first “story” at age 6. but this has thoroughly sharpened my craft.
cheers again for the milestone. let’s see what’s next, eh?
It IS like yoga for super lazy narcissists!!!
baaahhaaahahaaaa!!! Since you love it, I will just quote you, nod, and say I couldn’t agree more!
I do the same thing in email form. I highly recommend AGAINST this approach!! I only wish I had read your post before responding to my dad and his girlfriend (separately) over the last two hours in highly-detailed emails highlighting thoughts and philosophies that belong in a locked journal (or blog) after processing, not your “sent mail” folder. I could have been fast asleep by now. But I needed to self-medication with writing. I am “on words mannn!!!”
My question: Is the narcissistic part where you talk about yourself the whole time or when you re-read what you wrote to make sure you sound smart/funny or both?
Congratulations on your paper/digital anniversary!
You’re a talented and compelling writers whose words I’ve enjoyed for years and years … and I happen to have very discerning tastes when it comes to these things.
Can’t wait to see what the next year holds for you.
Happy blogoversary! I found you through Dakota at the Afghan Plan, and I’m so glad I did! Working my way through the whole year of posts right now instead of feeding my kids…
You are a great writer. I’m just happy I can experience the hiliarity you put into the world on a regular basis.