Post 999

I've known this was going to be post either 999 or 1,000 and I went back and forth about which one I wanted it to be. Ultimately, the post is about looking back, so I went with 999. Post one-thousand should be about looking forward and what is to come. But before we can get to that, let's reflect on how I got here.

Hey, it's my blog. I can navel gaze as much as I'd like.

When I was a senior in college, our final project for senior seminar was to discuss our life's work; when we look back on our professional career, what do we want to say that we've accomplished? This was a theater course, so of course the expectation was that we'd be talking about theater. My friends discussed things like professional careers as actors, winning awards as directors, or making a mark as a playwright. I had, at one point or another, wanted to do all three of those things. However, by the end of my senior year, I was starting to realize two things: 1) I was not willing to make the sacrifices I'd have to make to truly live a life in professional theater, and 2) I had too many competing interests outside of theater that pulled at my time and attention.

I struggled with this assignment. I wanted to be honest, but I didn't know what to say. I didn't want to just walk away from theater, but I also didn't want to make a claim about something I didn't think I'd do. Eventually, I realized it. I remember the speech I gave; it went something like this...

At the end of my career, I can see a book shelf. It is full of books that all have my name on the spine. I have no idea what is in those books - it might be novels or plays or comics or something else - but it's a body of work that I've created.

A few weeks ago, I took this picture to get ready for this blog entry. It's not a complete shelf per se, but I'm also not done. The fact that I said I would do this almost thirty years ago and I've done it to a reasonable level made me feel really, really good. At the time, the idea of pdf publishing wasn't a thing, so if you count that I'm well over a full shelf. However, I didn't say I wanted a flash drive full of digital files, so the shelf it is.

I am proud of the things I've accomplished and the milestones I've reached. The fact that I've maintained a blog of my creative life, and I've updated it one shy of a thousand times in the last decade, is something. I don't know what it signifies, but it signifies something to me. 

I look forward to seeing what's next, and I thank everyone who has been part of the journey thus far.