It’s ten years tonight. Ten years since I first sat down and decided to write a blog/journal entry every day. At the start, it was going to be for 90 days. I’d do that, see if I liked it, and then go from there. Obviously, it stuck.
It’s wild how much has happened in ten years. Here’s what comes to mind…
I got married.
I bought a house.
I found and lost Coco.
I wrote five novels (one of which still isn’t published, but I did write it—twice, actually).
I started two major jobs, and quit one of them; still doing the other.
I turned 30 and then 40.
I became an uncle twice over.
I helped my mom fight and win an insurance denial to get a surgery that probably saved her life.
I watched a lot of sports; I fell in love with the Warriors again, and I fell out of love with the A’s.
I talked a lot about work, stress, and creativity.
I recorded almost 500 podcast episodes with Josh. Two shows, we did together: Two Guys One Trek and Film School.
I rediscovered Star Trek after almost ten years away from it.
I took care of Coops, the sweet boy, and we found Joy, who helped us a lot when Coco passed.
I mostly quit social media because it turned into a cesspool. Twitter entirely, but also deleting Facebook off my phone. I use it all way WAY less than I used to.
I guess really to sum it all up, because there’s so much more…I really feel like I found myself these last ten years. I’m more skilled, inspired, and consistent than I’ve ever been, and it feels so, so good. I can see the corner; I’m turning it. When I started this blog, I was feeling really lost. The entire reason I decided to start writing here was to figure out just what in the hell I wanted to do. I’ve found that. I love writing books, and I am writing books, now. I have so much farther to go, but I feel more confident than I’ve ever been in my life that I actually will go there. I can see how. It’s not a mystery.
So…thank you to this blog. You’ve literally been there for me through everything. I’ve tried to share with you as much as I felt comfortable, which has never been everything, but has been enough. For me, anyway. And I’ve always tried to be honest, with myself above all. These last ten years of entries really have been an endeavor to be honest with myself, to use this as a mirror by which I could start to recognize patterns, to call myself out on stuff, and to give myself grace. To give me information I could use to better myself. And it’s working. I can see tangible results to that effect.
I don’t plan to stop here. This isn’t the end. I don’t know if I’ll continue this for another ten years—we’ll see—but at the very least it’ll go on for now. I love sitting down in bed and writing these entries. It’s a routine. One that helps me calm down before bed, dump a bit, and the rest to be ready for the next day. I’m sure in that regard that it’s not the most entertaining thing to read…but in all these entires, you guys, is all of the change that I’ve gone through. It’s documented here, piece by piece. Day by day.
And I suppose that might be one final takeaway for tonight: this blog is proof to me that I am consistent. That I can be relied upon. That I do exist, and I have something to say. I’ve done it every day for ten years. That’s not nothing. It’s rather remarkable, I think. So…good job Ira. I’m proud of you.
Night night.
(this piece of artwork was what I used for my very first entry, October 29, 2013)