Hard to believe the number of years that have gone by since I started this blog. Originally, it was a means to an end; intended to help me maintain my writing skills while continuing to build my writing acumen and researching various topics that interested me. Unlike most bloggers, I started this through the lens that I was doing it for myself. It didn’t matter how many followers I had or how much or how little I wrote. As long as it held my interest and I wanted to continue , I was accomplishing the goal.
Originally, my intention had been to write primarily about karate and Type-1 Diabetes. After all, these were the topics that I was deeply versed in. Over time, I started to include topics related to Buddhism, health & fitness and nutrition. All of these things tied together in some form or another, lending credence to their inclusion. And of course, there’s no denying that I frequently make a point of writing my opinion on a variety of topics, whether they relate to my primary subjects or not.
Over time, I started making small goals for myself, challenges, if you will. I started by challenging myself to write about something on a daily basis. This may sound easy in concept but it definitely wasn’t. trying to figure out something to post daily was often very challenging, resulting in my seeking opinions from others as to what they would like to see posted and even topics they’d like to see me cover. In a way, it got me to come out of my little shell and consult with others, as well.
As I got into the groove to post daily, I started to challenge myself with numbers. Let’s try posting for 100 days in a row without missing a single day. Done. Let’s try a full year. Done. Let’s even try posting for 1,000 straight days in a row without missing a day. Abso-fuckin-lutely done! After that, I decided to take a step back and focus on other projects, train at some other dojos and work on myself a bit. I also have a day job that, you know, I should probably not ignore. So I took a break for a while.
As the months have droned on, I’ve slowly started to return to this blog, writing more frequently than I have in the past year. It’s not that I really have more free time to do so or more opportunities but I have come to recognize that I still enjoy it. And when you find something you enjoy, it’s kind of hard not making the time for it. What’s been nice is I seem to have a slight increase in followers in recent months. I’m no online influencer or anything but even if all of these folks only read the occasional post here and there, it’s nice knowing that someone is seeing my words and possibly gleaning something from them. I’ve even received a few reader comments recently, which is always nice to see.
It’s been nice to get back to something that’s essentially become familiar and comfortable. While I don’t think I’ll ever go back to writing a post on a daily basis, it still nice to see increased followers and some engaging by some of them. It shows me that while I’ve been doing this for myself and I enjoy it regardless of the outcome, there are still some folks who are getting something from it, as well. ☯️
The Blogging Buddhist 