When
I first started this daily blog I had what I thought was a rather far fetched
goal. I had never kept a daily blog before (heck, even my old journals have
days missing here and there) and I knew that it was going to be a challenge but
I still wanted to set a milestone that was possible even if it wasn’t probable.
We all have these kinds of goals stored in the recesses of our minds many of
which are forgotten regardless of whether they are actually achieved. Well, I
clearly haven’t forgotten and now the improbable has happened as I find myself
writing my 1000th post.
Obviously,
things have changed quite a bit since those first words were made public and
the title of the blog has gone from descriptive to ironic but, overall, the
basic purpose of the blog remains the same… honest reflections and reports
about my life including my thoughts on topics and current events that piqued my
interest. With that said, I have held myself to the basic guidelines of 400+
words per post which will be posted every day (although there are a few times I
have had to play catch up). It has certainly been trying at times but, looking
back, I am happy with the overall content that I have been able to produce and
the ability that this blog affords me to look back at the details of certain
moments in my wife especially those surrounding the birth of my son.
Not
only has this blog served its basic purpose of pushing me to write but it has
also forced me to pay closer attention to the world around me, the experiences that
I have had, rework some of my long forgotten creative projects, keep in touch
with people (family, friends, and followers), and simply appreciate all that
has happened in my life. This is a record of my life which I can now pass on
and while I started this for more selfish reasons I am now motivated to keep
writing so that my son has something to look back on. This is now his life too.
One
of the other ideas that developed in my mind as this milestone inched closer
over the years is what I was going to do to celebrate this achievement. Well,
sometimes the best way to celebrate the present is to revisit the past. Prior
to this month, the last time that I published a book was in the summer of 2005
and now I have two additional books that have been resurrected from my hard
drive, Paintings In Under A Thousand Words: Nature Poems and What Was Not Said: Echoes from the Holocaust. Both of these collections where compiled
years ago and relegated to the confines of a small USB sitting in my desk. Now,
having found the motivation in keeping this daily blog, they are finally in
print.
However,
that is just the beginning of the celebration as I am also turning many of the
posts found on this blog into collections. They will, of course, be compiled
based on topic and should be published throughout the year. The first two of
these books are currently in the editorial process (I had forgotten how much “fun”
there was in reviewing a galley proof), Out
On The Limbs: Searching For Answers In the Family Tree and The Good, The Bad, and The Adorable: My First
Year as a Father. These should be available within the next month. Again,
those are just the first two with other collections from the blog to follow
soon after as well as a few other creative projects unrelated to the blog that
I have been working on.
So, I
will end this post in much the same manner that I have concluded other
milestone entries by offering my thanks to all of you who continue to read
these simple words, those who continue to support this endeavor, and the
family, friends, brothers, and colleagues that make these posts possible. Here’s
to you. Here’s to the first thousand. And, here’s to the thousands that are to
follow! It is only going to get better from here!
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