My Tentative Return...

So... a couple years ago, I got this idea. I had been blogging for a long time at that point. Things had been going pretty well on my little blog here; I had several readers, and some really thoughtful and interesting conversations took place in the comments. So I decided it was time to step it up a notch, purchase my own domain, and become a Real Blogger. No, that's not a thing, but in my mind it was this level of blogging awesomeness that I simply had to achieve. ;) My own name was available for purchase, so I did it.

But it's just... not working. I wish I could explain why it's different, but I can't. I mean, part of the problem is that I posted less frequently and I didn't do much to promote my posts like I had previously. I think I just felt... scared and overwhelmed, maybe? Whether it makes sense or not, there is something incredibly intimidating to me about having my own name in the web address. Like... everything I ever post there has to represent exactly who I am, and I feel like I have to be so cautious and careful about what I say and how I say it, because what if I accidentally misrepresent myself? Or what if I say something and later change my mind, but now that opinion is out there with my name all over it for anyone to see?

That last one is kind of funny because that's a risk I run as I return to this blog. I've looked back over it, and while there are many things I've written that I still totally agree with, there are other areas where my views have softened or strengthened due to further thought or life experience. I guess that's how it is with life, but when we live so much of our lives online, in such a publicly viewable way, it becomes even more obvious.

So if you are looking back and you see anything that doesn't quite sound like the me you know, take it with a grain of salt. Whenever I write something, all I can do is draw on my experiences up to that point. For that matter, I could say the same of anything I write from here on out. Where I am today may not be where I am in six months, or a year, or five years. I hope not, anyway, because that would indicate a level of stagnation that I'm not comfortable with. ;)

I was going to try to quietly move my posts from my newer blog back over here, and just keep the original dates on them so this one is seamless and doesn't have a two-year posting gap. Now that I've put the first few of them on here, I see that they are going to flood Google reader as though they're brand new posts, even though the post date is from 2ish years ago. So... um... sorry about that. You might be seeing a lot of posts from me over the next few days/weeks as I move stuff over here.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to posting here a lot more!