#oneaday Day 800: 800 Days of Nonsense

So, 800 days of daily blogging it is. I feel like I should have some sort of celebration or something, but since it’s 1:15 in the morning and I’m rather tired and achey after a gym session earlier, it can probably wait.

At this juncture, I feel it would be nice to just say a big “thank you” to those of you who have been reading my regular gibberish, and an especially big “thank you” to those of you who contribute comments and engage in discussions. The last couple of months in particular seem to have seen a few new people coming my way, so welcome to those of you who are newcomers.

I may regularly protest that I’m not writing this blog “for” anyone and I actually stand by that — I write these posts each day as an outlet, a form of escapism or, at times, catharsis. They have proven very effective on that front over the last couple of years. I’d go so far as to say that surviving some of the trials and tribulations my life has thrown my way would have been considerably more difficult — possibly insurmountable, though we’ll never know (unless dimension-jumping technology gets invented) — without this faithful old WordPress page to empty my brain onto.

That said, it’s fun and — I won’t lie — a little bit exciting when people leave a comment and start a discussion. I believe most bloggers feel that way. Getting comments is a sign of “approval” — not necessarily of your opinions, but of the means through which you’ve argued them. Inspiring a comment, be it an “agree” or a “disagree”, means that you’ve moved someone to actually say something rather than just click the Like button. (There’s nothing wrong with that, incidentally — if you just enjoyed/appreciated a post but have nothing further to add, a Like is always gratefully received.) And so far as I can remember, most (if not all) comments on this here site have been respectful, interesting and showing willingness to engage in conversation. Also people who read this seem to be able to spell and punctuate correctly, which is always a massive bonus in this Facebook-dominated world where everyone seems to think that capital letters are just an inconvenience.

So after 800 daily posts, what now? 800 more, of course! Though I must confess in recent months it’s been becoming harder and harder to think of things to write about. Oddly enough I feel that some of my most creative work on this blog was done during possibly the worst period of my life, perhaps as a means of escaping the crushing depression of what was going on in “reality” at the time. They say that artists produce their best work when tortured, and while I certainly wouldn’t refer to this site and these 800+ posts as “art”, it’s clear that whatever Shit I’ve Had Going Down at various points over the last 800 days has affected the things I write about — whether consciously or subconsciously. In that sense, I often find it interesting to skip back to a random post and not only read it but also picture the context of what was going on in my life at that time. It’s an interesting — if sometimes painful — journey that I’ve taken, and to have chronicled it quite so exhaustively (if not always explicitly describing exactly what happened each day) is something I can look back on with a degree of pride and satisfaction.

As I approach my 31st birthday (April 29th, please send money or gifts to the usual address) I don’t know what the future holds for me — personally, professionally, physically, mentally. But so long as I’ve got this text editor window and a “Publish” button I’m confident I can deal with whatever comes this way.