I started blogging in 2010. At the time, writing on internet was just starting to take off. The World Wide Web was filled with unique ideas, random rabbit holes, and millions of interesting people. Within a few years, thousands of people were curious about the miscellaneous musings of an early-twenty something navigating life. When I abandoned that first blog in 2013, I left behind just over 14,000 readers. It’s so strange to think back on!
The internet is current brimming over with billions of blog post, most carbon copies of others’ ideas. It’s no longer the Wild Wild West and the Blogospheric space, admittedly, has lost much of it’s appeal. Each post gets about 3 reads and comments are few and far between, which is an entirely different experience than blogging in the early 2010s.
Yet, at different stages of life, I think we need different things. In my early 20s, I needed reassurance that I was on the right path. My degree had not procured a career path, I was too independent for the men that I dated, I was spiritually adrift, and I was generally exploring the space of self-discovery. My young self made dozens of close internet friends, many decades older and wiser than myself. They guided me, supported me, and assured me that everything would work out. And they were right.
I have found my path, and I’m well on my way. I am no longer a lost child looking for kind eyes and outreached hand. I don’t need reassurance, validation, or guidance on the next leg of my journey. Though, my goodness, I am truly grateful for the strangers-turned-friends that helped me get here.
Today, this is a space to spill out ideas for myself, and others if they happen to find it helpful or thought-provoking. The blog has evolved from engineering to short stories, from mysterious ailments to personal finance, and from poetry to pillars of the constitution. It’s like an end-of-the week veggie stew, using up all the leftover produce. I don’t care about appealing to an audience or narrowing my scope–that’s not my duty, nor desire. I may narrow things down, now that my health is improving, though that’s yet to be decided. (It does seem like those bloggers with a niche has high engagement, so maybe that’s the key difference, so, if I cared about metrics…)
Over the last 4 years with this blog, I’ve tried to pay it forward. I stop by young people’s blogs and offer the support and reassurance that I so desperately needed at that age, though they are few and far between and (I’m sorry) quite inauthentic. I think most of the youngsters are on Instagratification and TikToxin nowadays. At 33, I’m practically ancient; wise, but irrelevant; a relic of the 2010s.
However, I am still here, and I honestly wouldn’t change a thing.
existential ergonomics 