So long, and thanks for all the fish!

Well, folks. As you might have noticed, I haven't updated this blog in forever. No, I did not fall off the Earth, or just forget about it, but I did lose interest and find it difficult to get back into the swing of posting after I'd been out for awhile. So, I think it's about time to wrap up here.

To anyone thinking about starting a blog, I've a few parting words of wisdom: 

• First - do it. Go after it. It's entertaining, cathartic, thoughtful and creative all rolled up into one free pastime.
• Second - keep in mind what you're talking about and who'll be reading it. One of my biggest demotivators was that a few of the things that were happening in my life at times were very big and important and scary. You can probably tell when they were when you take a close look at my posting schedule over the years. You see, I went about the business of blogging about my life, and I'd invited my close friends and family to read my blog, but some of those things I was encountering needed to be worked out privately. I didn't want to cause any worry, or worse, any drama that would further worsen the situation. If you plan on writing a blog about your life, and you get the people you love to read your work, be prepared to either get really comfortable sharing the icky, uncomfortable dark things with them when life strikes, or get good at bleaching your story into a nice, comfortable, bland narrative.
• Lastly - if you fall off a regular posting cycle, don't just get back on; figure out what went sideways. Did you just lose interest? Did you just forget? Did you find yourself unable to share certain details or stay on your chosen topic? If you just start back up, but don't address why you stopped the first time, it'll likely happen again. For me, it was not feeling right or comfortable blogging about the aforementioned life business. When it finally cleared up a little, it had been so long since the last time I posted that the self-imposed expectation of posting something, anything, was nerve-wracking. So much happened; I found myself writing 2-3 posts just to catch everyone up. I could have fine-tuned my target topic at that time to prevent it from happening again, or organized an easier schedule, or really just let that be that and moved on. 

Now that my professional career has taken off, I have practically no time to blog anymore, and less to talk about in this style.

I think I might have grown up. Scary.

All that said, I've had a lot of fun with this little side adventure over the years, and it's been awesome to inspire and entertain people with the antics of this little slice of life. And to think this all started as a resolution to blog regularly for one year. It truly has brought me joy to write for you, and I'd suggest it to anyone.

Take care of yourselves, and I'll catch ya further on down the trail.