Chapter Three: The Blogs I Used to Keep
Chapter Three: The Blogs I Used to Keep
Before this blog, there were others. Four of them, actually. Looking back at their names now, I have one question for my younger self: what were you thinking?
I honestly don't know how I chose them. But I loved every one.
BlueCloak
The first one. I started BlueCloak in high school and wrote about whatever was happening at the time: experiences, little adventures, the things that felt huge back then. It was my first taste of putting my life into words and hitting publish.
Life According to the Hyper Radioactive Neophyte
Yes, that was a real blog name. Yes, I came up with it myself. No, I can't explain it.
This one was less about events and more about what was going on in my head: thoughts, musings, the kind of things you only work out by writing them down. If BlueCloak was my diary, the Neophyte was my thinking out loud.
Electronic Paper Machine
This is where I tried my hand at fiction. Electronic Paper Machine was for stories, the ones I made up rather than the ones I lived. It was where I learned that making things up is its own kind of hard work.
Heel Drag Chronicles
And finally, the travel blog. Or, more accurately, the blog about my supposed travels. I'll let the name do the talking. Sometimes the chronicles were more ambitious than the journeys.
What I loved about it
Across all four, the thing I loved was the same: freedom. The freedom to put down what I was thinking and what I was remembering, and turn it into a kind of chronicle.
I've always loved the written word, not just reading it but making it. Finding the right sentence, deleting it, finding a better one. The process was half the fun.
Then adult life happened
Around 2013, I got busy. In 2014, I started my professional career, and from there, a lot happened. Work, responsibilities, the whole package. Adult life, basically. The blogs went quiet, and so did I.
But here's what I've realized: I didn't stop collecting stories. I just stopped writing them down. Those years gave me plenty of memories, more than enough to fill a few more chapters.
A note to the younger me
If I could talk to the kid who started BlueCloak, I'd tell him a few things:
Keep writing, even if it's only a little. A few lines are better than none. Carry a small notebook and pen everywhere. Ideas don't wait for convenient moments.
Don't worry so much. The things that stress you out now will shape who you become, and you'll turn out fine.
Learn to be kind rather than right. Being right all the time is overrated. Kindness lasts longer.
I don't know if he would've listened. But I'm listening now.
To BlueCloak, the Hyper Radioactive Neophyte, the Electronic Paper Machine, and the Heel Drag Chronicles: thanks for the practice. This one's for you.