Pgh Lesbian Correspondents

Life is complicated right now, but I decided to get back on this horse and try again. Making time to blog each day is an important mental and emotional exercise.

I don’t know what to say this first day. There are no prompts for National Blog Post Month days this year. Perhaps as the art of blogging morphs into ever new media, people forget the bloggers.

Mind you, I celebrate newsletters, reels, podcasts, and the many other ways content creators – journalists among them – communicate. I have no resentment – I’m excited and eager to see where they lead us.

But blogs are still here. Some are personal journals, others promotional tools. The ‘Golden Age’ of blogging has long since passed us by, much like the golden age of print newspapers. But both blogs and newspapers are still here, still relevant, essential even. An industry can wane, but that doesn’t necessarily mean dying gasps are upon us.

I’m comfortable as a blogger – it has given my life purpose, a steadying force as my current life shatters into a million pieces. I have no interest in picking up a new medium. This is where I belong and my approaching 20th anniversary demonstrates that quite nicely.

I can stop to reflect on that milestone, but continue onward as I’ve always done. Why stop now? There’s so much to say. My mental health has never been better, granted with a lot of supports. I have a circle of friends dating back to my early childhood who rally around me. I have lost things, but I better understand my part in that loss. I understand my fears, my traumas, my weaknesses as much as I know my strengths and grace.

How could I have done it differently? Who would I be if I wasn’t striving to have an impact, to describe the parts of our lives we prefer to hide at a cost that hurts future generations?

I feel so sad tonight, even after a good evening of homemade pizza and gin tonics and taste testing pumpkin spice treats with my youngest nibling. After a wonderful Halloween and a day earlier in the week that was the best I’ve had in several years. I suppose this is just a typical let down, the angst after the accomplishments.

It is not a bad way to start November. Reflecting. Mourning. Hopeful.