A Lot Can Shift in 18 Years: My Blogging Anniversary
—Four blog posts, four snapshots, one ongoing story

It Started With “Publish”

Eighteen years ago today, August 8, 2008, I clicked “publish” on my very first blog post.

Although I’d known for years that I loved to write—actually needed to write—as a way of clarifying thoughts in my head, I had no idea how much I would also love blogging.

And even more surprising, I didn’t know how much I would love the blogging community.

You all have been such a vibrant, intelligent, curious, and especially kind group of people all over the world. I thank you for the sweet messages you’ve left in my little corner of the internet over these past 18 years. And for welcoming me to your own sites to learn about your worlds, too.

It’s been an amazing journey.

And a lot has shifted in 18 years.

Today I look back at four snapshots on my anniversary date (or close to it) on the blog:

• 10 years ago
• 5 years ago
• 2 years ago
• last year

What I find are four unique moments in time. Four versions of myself.

Yet one ongoing story.

Trusting That We’ll Get Through

10 Years Ago—August 2016

This has obviously been a common theme for me for years: How can I know that things will work out?

Well, we can’t know how things will work out, that’s for sure.

But what I was learning ten years ago—and continue to learn now—is that whatever happens, as long as we have humans around us who care about other humans, things will work out, one way or another.

We can get through it together.

“When one person approaches another person not just despite their differences, but because of their differences, we’re going to be okay.”

Ten years later, I still believe this. But my understanding of what “things working out” actually means has shifted some. It doesn’t mean that things will turn out the way we plan or hope for.

Maybe it just means that whatever happens, we can keep going. And that’s enough.

Why I Know It Will Work Out

~  ~  ~

Finding New Life After Loss

5 Years Ago—August 2021

Five years ago, we’d already been living with Covid for more than a year, experiencing sickness and death all around us. It was a tiring time.

In my own life, I was on the cusp of a deep personal loss. While the “death” hadn’t yet fully happened when I wrote this post (it would be a few more months), I suppose I was already preparing myself.

It’s been a healthy reminder now as I look again at these “5 Ways to Deal With Your Thousand Little Deaths.”

“Look for signs of new life in each individual death.
Life and love are stronger than death. May they live on forever.”

I needed those words then. I need them still now.

I continue to shift in how I view and process loss. It’s difficult, however you experience it. Loss can’t be avoided, but there are ways to carry loss more gently. And with more compassion for ourselves as we make room for new life to emerge.

5 Ways to Deal With Your Thousand Little Deaths

~  ~  ~

Sometimes Your Words Say More Than You Write

2 Years Ago—August 2024

On my 16th blogging anniversary, I listed reasons that many of us continue to blog.

One of my own reasons was that “throwing something on my blog every few days” can sometimes produce profound things even when I have nothing profound to say.

“Whatever it is you expect to give by blogging, I hope you give it.
But I also hope you receive so much more in return.”

I certainly have received much more than I’ve given.

My blogging topics may have shifted over the years, but my basic reason for blogging hasn’t: I still need to put words to what I’m experiencing and to process through it with other people.

We all continue to change.

So the conversations continue, too.

Why Do You Blog? You Might Be Surprised {My 16th Blogging Anniversary}

~  ~  ~

Letting the Past Keep Teaching Us

1 Year Ago—August 2025

Last year, I had been rereading my late mother’s journals—and being greatly touched by them.

One question I asked myself then—and still do now—is: What can I still learn from the past?

Reading more about my mother’s life, I learned more about her.

But I learned more about me, too.

“I also find me on these pages. Because of who she was, I am who I am. Life ripples on, one generation through another.”

While the past may be fixed in time, our memories are fluid. As we reflect back and remember, we can reframe our perspectives to more accurately reflect what we know now.

Before You Box Up the Past, Ask This One Question First

~  ~  ~

Still Here: One Ongoing Story

Reading through some of my older posts, I cringe at things I wrote back then. Just as I will likely cringe 10 years from now if I read some of this year’s posts.

But maybe that’s okay?

Maybe seeing the shifts we make from year to year, and from decade to decade, reminds us that we’re never standing still.

We continue to move and grow as life changes around us.

The older I get, the more I’m aware of the impermanence of life, especially this year as I focus on Shift, my One Word for 2026.

And even when things change drastically, we don’t have to start over completely from scratch. We may look at old stories differently. And grow more comfortably into new stories that we couldn’t have imagined before.

So thank you to those who may be reading my blog for the first time today, and to those who may have actually been here for years and years.

Several of you have become dear friends, on and off the blog. For that, I am very grateful, more than you know.

Here’s to more time together in the future.
May we stay curious.
And stay open to the next shifts as we continue becoming more fully ourselves.

I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.

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