Reflections and Resolutions for My Blog: Thirteen Years Plus, and 302 Posts

Thirteen years ago I was at a low point and feeling frustrated. This would have been the summer of 2010, and I looked all around me trying to get out of my funk. I wanted to burn everything down, but I had neither the bravery nor the money to do so. Instead I sat on my little apartment patio with a glass of iced tea, a pen, and a notebook and I started making lists. These weren’t errand or grocery lists, and I didn’t even make a list of all the other things I needed to do at that moment. Instead, I made lists of things I loved. I made a list of people I loved. I made a list of foods that made my mouth water and my stomach grumble. I made a list of places I wanted to visit someday. I made a list of smells I enjoyed. I made a list of things that I thought I might want to try. I made a list of dreams. I made a list of favorite outfits. I made a list of favorite memories. I made lists of favorite books, poems, songs, movies, and bands. Then I made a list of things I loved to do and wanted to do more of.

One of those things was writing. I had always loved writing, but had been too scared, too shy, and too uncertain on how and where to write and share it. At that point, I had been reading several blogs, and decided to try it myself. It took a few months to decide on a platform, pick a name, and figure out the focus. I could see where people had narrowed their blogs down to a certain topic like traveling, organizing and home tips, cooking, or photography, but that didn’t feel quite right. I really just wanted the blog as a place to write and save my work. I didn’t even know if I would share it with anyone. I decided that I didn’t want to narrow my focus of writing. I wanted to be able to experiment and play. I figured if I was going to narrow the focus of my writing, I would leave that to the times when I was bold enough to write and submit writing to publications, knowing that most publications, both online and in print, have very specific subjects and types of articles they accept.

I picked the name “Running Into Life” because I liked the open-ended feel of it. I enjoyed how it had multiple meanings. I was coming out of a funk and finding my way back into joy, so running into life felt appropriate. I wrote a couple of posts and let it sit there, with the privacy settings on, so that no one could see it but me. A few months later, I wrote a couple more things and made it visible, but I didn’t share it or put my name on it. It think it was the end of 2012 before I even shared a post with anyone, back when I used fb to keep up with college and high school friends.

It’s been 13 years and there have been periods of long hibernation, and then flurries when I write and post somewhat regularly. Since it’s just me, there are no real deadlines. I like the loosey-goosey nature of it. When I started, I really just wanted to write more, and to do more of something I love. The blog was the permission slip that I wrote for myself to try something I loved and to invite myself to grow. One of my college roommates and I used to joke about what we called center-of-the-universe-complex, and I think about that a lot with some of my posts and this blog as a whole. Some of the writers I love most write in the genre of the personal essay and one of my writing dreams is to find that perfect balance between a personal revelation and a universal truth.

I like to think of this blog the way a neighborhood band might think of their drummer’s garage, a space to be creative and to do the thing they love, a place to practice. It is in the practice and reflection, and sometimes only later can I tell if it’s self-indulgent or if I am working towards a hard-won truth. Sometimes, I still can’t tell, but again, it’s about practicing. One of the fun things about a hobby is you get to do it because you want to, not because you have to, and you can work at your own speed, and with your own rules. Maybe in the practicing, I can move beyond the center-of-the-universe complex into the sphere of awareness.

While I have written mostly personal essays, I tried my hand at a few short stories. I wrote a review of a movie, and a review of an album by a favorite band. I stretched and wrote travel essays when I took a few long weekend trips. For a little while, I even posted some favorite quotes, because I thought it might be fun to have some other things beyond my words here. What I have loved the most is that keeping the blog inspired me to try writing for others. I have written a little here and there over the years and seeing my name on a byline is a delight. I still have never ventured out to my dreams of professional freelance writing or writing a book and getting it published, but that’s why we have dreams. We can move towards them in big and small ways when we are ready.

Since that first blog post in November 2013, I have a fairly large archive. One of my resolutions for 2024 is to go through the entire blog, and update it. I don’t plan on rewriting old posts, but I do want to go back and proofread those older ones. I want to go back and fix the dead links (or remove them entirely) and add a photo to each post, because at the beginning I didn’t really think to add pictures to the words. A few times I used online clip art, and I want to make sure that all the visuals on this blog are of my own making. I want to make sure I’m okay within copyrights, especially because I have several quotes sprinkled throughout, and I need to check that I am within the parameters of fair usage. I may even delete the quote entries entirely, since they are just quotes, with no writing or reflection of why I shared them. I also want to add copyright notices to my own work, both for the writing and photos. I am also looking to do a site redesign, and figure out a better way to index and archive old posts, should someone want to go back and reread older things. I also need to learn a bit more about categories and tags. I have been doing this for a long time, but I don’t know that what I have done makes it easier to find these things, or if they are too general or too specific. I also think it would be fun to communicate with people who subscribe to the blog, without inundating email boxes. I want to see what tools are available to me already in terms of this blog and hosting platform, and what I can improve upon and learn about just by looking around and exploring. All of this is to say that after 13 years, maybe I could learn a bit more about running my blog, and not just writing for my blog. I also want to clean up the back end of the blog, like removing the photos I have uploaded and didn’t use, deleting duplicate photos, and getting rid of draft posts that I don’t care to complete.

My other big resolution for the blog is to write and post 52 blogs, one a week for 2024. There is something to a schedule, a lofty goal, and the regular practice in pursuit of that goal. My heartbeat quickens at the thought.

My last resolution is to read more blogs and interact with them. I used to have a number of blogs that I read regularly, but some of those blogs have ceased, and while I have found a few newer ones, I haven’t been a regular blog reader in some time. I miss that. Blogs are fun and boundless and I want to plug back in to the creativity and community of other blogs and bloggers.

Starting the blog 13 years ago was an end in and of itself. I wanted to write and find my way to doing more of it. I kept it wide open and let myself move at my own pace. I found my own way running and writing into life, and I continue to work to find my way. Thank you for reading and sharing with me over the years. There are just a few of you, and I appreciate you so much more than I seem able to say.

Do you have dreams and goals and hobbies that speak to you, beyond work and loved ones? Would you be a little bit happier if you gave yourself permission to do something you love, even for just a couple hours a week? What gets you running into life?