I launched this blog ten years ago this month. Since December 2010, it’s been a wild ride, packed with ups and downs.
I’ve divorced an abusive husband. I’ve performed again as a dancer. I’ve been assaulted—and assaulted again. I’ve graduated with my master’s degree in education. I’ve been felled by chronic illness so hard that I had to spend a year with a specialist learning how to walk and turn my head. I’ve been through therapy, multiple times now. I’ve married the incredible Josh Hornbeck. I had a year there where I couldn’t read at all. And now this year, even as chronic migraine worsens, I’m about to reach my goal of reading 25 books. And I’ve taken the first steps toward PTSD treatment.
It’s been quite the journey. And you’ve been here with me. Thank you.
You guys are the absolute best, and I’m so grateful for each one of you. You are community, colleagues, and healers all rolled into one.
Writers don’t write just to write. We don’t write because we like being alone. We write to be read. So thank you for the gift of your time and your thoughtfulness. You’ve touched my lives, and you’ve invited me into yours.
It’s been an honor to read your own journeys, to follow your own adventures. Thank you for your poetry, your compassion, your words, your generosity, and your wisdom. This solitary venture of recording our lives doesn’t feel so solitary at all with you around.
Looking ahead to the next ten years, I wish nothing but the best for all of us. May we follow our joy. May we trust in what matters to us most. And may we always find support and community waiting just when we need it most.
So here’s to another ten years. Cheers!
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Featured image by Miguel Á. Padriñán from Pexels
The Trailer Park MFA 
Over the past decade I have at times enjoyed reading your words, and at other times been a bit irritated but it is all part of the process of opening one’s self up to differences of opinion.
Myself I sent my first blog posting out on 11/23/2009 and it was nothing more than a metaphorical ‘hello world hear me’. Made even harder because it was done without any internet at my cabin in the Alaskan wilderness. I was using ham radio and the “WinLink” system to get my words to the internet and WordPress. It worked and as the years passed like yourself many diverse postings were written.
I hope your next decade of postings
will be as interesting
and yes even a bit irritating
so as to keep
this end of the road of life
interesting!
Pete! I’m so glad you’re still out there. What a story about launching your blog! I admire the ingenuity. I don’t think I’d make it five minutes in the Alaskan wilderness.
And I completely agree. Irritation is such a reliable indicator that we’ve been presented with something new. Even if in the end we still don’t see eye to eye, we’ve given each other the opportunity to reflect on our own values and worldview, and to better understand our differences. I’m grateful you’re here, and I’ll do my best to help keep things interesting! Take care, my friend!
Cheers! Here’s to another ten years! I’ve learned so much from your posts and I’m looking forward to what comes next. Thank you, Melanie!
Thanks so much, Roxana! I can’t wait to find out what’s in store for both of us!