Eight Years
I am so gay.
"How gay are you, Brian?"
I am so gay that I typed the title of this post ("Eight Years") and immediately the beginning of a song from Bye Bye Birdie jumped into my head.
I haven't even started writing yet and already I digress...
A little over eight years ago (well almost nine, I guess!) I created an account on LiveJournal as a New Year's resolution to keep my brain straight on the details of my own life. It was tremendously helpful and a wonderful creative outlet. I used to write so much when I was younger, and over the years the scales tipped and I became more of a consumer than a producer/creator. Only in the past year or two have I started to realize I was trending that way again.
In 2003 when I first started here, I was still a babygay, freshly out and only starting to seriously seek out other men for friendships, dating and of course playtime. I've written about falling in love, getting my heart broken, cooking some fab meals, travel adventures, changing the world through music with the gay men's chorus, successes and frustrations in IT and nonprofit administration, and a million random things I would never recall if I hadn't written them down.
And the friendships! I've made so many wonderful friends locally and in other cities by connecting on LiveJournal.
So why did I stop writing? Nothing has really changed. I still value the friendships I've made here. I still think journaling is healthy and productive. I think for a few years I was just overwhelmed. My life and my head were disorganized. I felt like I had said everything I needed to say without repeating myself.
I have a three-headed theory. One: I just don't think I was trying hard enough. Not exercising the creative muscle. Not PRODUCING. Two: I think I was depressed for an extended period of time. Yes, you can still be a productive member of society, have fun times, appear happy, and be messed up in the head. And Three: I'm mildly obsessive-compulsive and couldn't take not being able to "catch up" with the volume of LJ posts once Facebook exploded in popularity and caught my attention. And then there was Twitter.
Now that 1) I recognize I still see the value in regular journaling; 2) My head is clearer and I feel like I'm in charge of my life again; and 3) I've realized I will never be able to fully "catch up" with Facebook (thank goodness for the new highlighting algorithms! Truly!)... or Twitter... or LiveJournal -- the pressure is off, and I'd like to get this thing started again.
"How gay are you, Brian?"
I am so gay that I typed the title of this post ("Eight Years") and immediately the beginning of a song from Bye Bye Birdie jumped into my head.
I haven't even started writing yet and already I digress...
A little over eight years ago (well almost nine, I guess!) I created an account on LiveJournal as a New Year's resolution to keep my brain straight on the details of my own life. It was tremendously helpful and a wonderful creative outlet. I used to write so much when I was younger, and over the years the scales tipped and I became more of a consumer than a producer/creator. Only in the past year or two have I started to realize I was trending that way again.
In 2003 when I first started here, I was still a babygay, freshly out and only starting to seriously seek out other men for friendships, dating and of course playtime. I've written about falling in love, getting my heart broken, cooking some fab meals, travel adventures, changing the world through music with the gay men's chorus, successes and frustrations in IT and nonprofit administration, and a million random things I would never recall if I hadn't written them down.
And the friendships! I've made so many wonderful friends locally and in other cities by connecting on LiveJournal.
So why did I stop writing? Nothing has really changed. I still value the friendships I've made here. I still think journaling is healthy and productive. I think for a few years I was just overwhelmed. My life and my head were disorganized. I felt like I had said everything I needed to say without repeating myself.
I have a three-headed theory. One: I just don't think I was trying hard enough. Not exercising the creative muscle. Not PRODUCING. Two: I think I was depressed for an extended period of time. Yes, you can still be a productive member of society, have fun times, appear happy, and be messed up in the head. And Three: I'm mildly obsessive-compulsive and couldn't take not being able to "catch up" with the volume of LJ posts once Facebook exploded in popularity and caught my attention. And then there was Twitter.
Now that 1) I recognize I still see the value in regular journaling; 2) My head is clearer and I feel like I'm in charge of my life again; and 3) I've realized I will never be able to fully "catch up" with Facebook (thank goodness for the new highlighting algorithms! Truly!)... or Twitter... or LiveJournal -- the pressure is off, and I'd like to get this thing started again.