Reflecting Back On 12 Years Of Blogging

A few weeks ago, I logged into WordPress and noticed I had a message. Apparently, I’ve been tinkering around on WordPress for twelve years! I started my first blog in college, which doesn’t seem like all that long ago, which in turn makes me feel quite old.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve thus been reflecting back on my time on WordPress with fondness.

When I started my first blog, as a bright-eyed and bored university student, I committed to writing daily for a year. I succeeded. Within my first three months, a post was featured on Freshly Pressed–the front page of the blogging platform–and I amassed an astonishing number of views and new readers. Within the fist three years, I was featured on Freshly Pressed three times. I wrote with a genuineness that seemed to draw people in. It was an coming-of-age story, the exploration of life and all its trials and tribulations. I made dozens of internet friends, a few of whom I met in person, and fostered lasting relationships with some I came to view as mentors. After about five years, I abandoned the blog due to numerous stalkers, ongoing harassment, and threats. That blog was not anonymous, so I was too afraid to go on. Most of those old friends I’m no longer in touch with. Their blogs have disappeared or gone silent. I think about them often, and I really hope they’re doing well.

Frustrated, but needing to write, I started several other private blogs. One was poetry, another was angry ranting, and I don’t even recall the others.

Finally, in 2018, while planning to apply to graduate school in engineering, I started blogging here. What was initially intended to be somewhat of a portfolio of ideas on engineering concepts quickly devolved into a chronicle of ill health and the associated frustration. Along with my health, I also lost friends, career opportunities, and hopes and dreams for the future. This blog is filled with pain, frustration, and hopelessness. And yet, I am by nature a overly-optimistic person, so small rays of sunshine cast light in the darkness, at least some of the time.

I’ve not been consistent here, and blogging in 2022 is nothing like blogging in 2010, yet I am happy to be here. I enjoy the dialogue, the sharing of ideas, and the spilling out of thoughts onto the blank page. Twelve years in, and I love blogging as much today as when I first started. The exhilaration has been replaced by a sense of steadiness, which I believe is perfectly suited for this season of my life.

Cheers!