So here I am, 365 days, 230 posts, and 7,477 unique views later, wondering if I've stayed on course, met my expectations, and what I've accomplished with this effort so far.
I stated last year that I didn't think anybody would care about my random musings:
Something told me that, the fun of writing aside, there’d not be a huge demand on my ranting or personal reflections. I did not see an audience eager to hear my observations on the decline of morality, the hours of life lost watching the dramatization of unrealistic lives on tv, the painful reflections on lost opportunities to connect with a parent long passed, and the memories of childhood that both define and confine the person I am. Who really wants to hear about that?I'm happy to say I was wrong. It turns out that, not only have friends, family and random visitors been interested, they've encouraged me with their own thoughts, comments and reflections as well. It's been very rewarding to have the opportunity to post something like timely lyrics that end up helping a friend through a grieving process, off kilter jokes or experiences that make a family member laugh or reminisce, personal thoughts that motivate someone to share their own experiences with a frustration or observation, or just somebody that wants to argue a few points on a movie I panned.
As far as my desire to make this my own virtual 'kilroy' illustration on the internet wall, I'm feeling positive about the efforts and progress, but also want to make sure I maintain a balance between substance and fluff. I have had a great time writing about technology, movies, and rants, but I also want to put time into more reflections on memories and such. After all, ultimately, this is a memoir in progress.
My own self-imposed expectations have caused me to amass a large number of topics and concepts yet to be authored. Now I just need to find the time to write, and be in the right frame of mind as well. Hell, I've been working on a post about my cousin Jeri for over three months. It's amazing that people out there blog as much as they do, and I can't imagine how and where they find the time. Most of my posts are written in sporadic starts and stops, ones that occur during a random opening of time during the busy day, or more often, between 12 and 1 am, after the day has passed.
I will admit that my 'self improvement' effort using this failed miserably. I was tempted to yank the weekly updates I had posted [or, should that be 'weakly' updates] out of embarrassment, but I opted to leave them, because history should not be dynamic. After a month or so of weekly posts regarding my progress in many areas of my life, I threw in the towel and stopped keeping up on it. I actually feel like today's rating would be A+ in everything but physical condition. How about that? Perhaps I'll revisit that on a monthly basis instead of a weekly basis.
On the whole, this has proven to be a very beneficial effort. I feel like i've made stronger connections with friends and family by taking time to post these obscure thoughts and entries. I've had a great time writing with a bit of creativity. I feel more excited about the little things that cross my mind each day, as well as the memories I I have yet to capture in writing. And the time I've put into reflecting on the 'deeper' topics about life and family have helped me stay a bit more conscious and content.
So, year one down, year two ahead. Let's see what the 12 months bring.