Four Years: Part 1 – My Reflection

As I said in my day-of anniversary post, it’s hard to believe I’ve been doing this for four years. You’ll have to forgive this week as it’s going to be even MORE self-centered than usual. Don’t worry, I will go into the numbers later in the week! There were so many when I was looking at them it was overwhelming. As each year passes it’s more and more amazing to see who I interact with and who visits my little spot on the internet, but more on that Wednesday.

This post is a quick post to reflect on how it’s been to blog, specifically about books, for so long. Rather than taking ANOTHER selfie, I just reused the same one (above) I’ve used twice this month already. Thankfully it really fits with my thoughts on the blog. Every post I make is like one of those pieces of mirror in the photo. Each mirror/post gives you a tiny glimpse of who I am and even if you put them all together you don’t get a complete picture, but a mirage/collage of who I am. (Deep right?) As I re-read my first ever post from July 20, 2010 yesterday, I couldn’t help but laugh and be incredibly embarrassed! Thankfully, for the embarrassing part at least, I’ve had four years to proof and re-proof the post, but I swear each time I re-read it I catch something new, but at the same time I don’t want to change it as it’s a snapshot of who I was and what I thought about blogging four years ago. At least I had the presence of mind to warn everyone about the coming onslaught of bad spelling and poor grammar, but who would’ve thought it would last four years!

I laugh most about my goals and reasons for starting the blog. They were very much competitive and not personal, or at least looking back that’s what it looks like. I talk about other people’s goals and not about what I hoped to get out of the blog. It wasn’t until the five months later when I realized it needed to serve a different purpose. It was then that I realized how useful the blog would be for me to slow down after reading each book and take the time to reflect on my reading rather than just plowing forward into the next read.

It’s hard to say whether the blog evolved because I changed or I changed because the blog evolved, but either way they’re inexorably tied together. Over the past four years, my personal and professional lives have seen numerous ups and downs, and through it all The Oddness of Moving Things has stayed constant. This blog has allowed me to process things completely unrelated to literature and books through what I was reading. Apparently taking the time to process what I was reading via this blog, allowed me to become more comfortable and confident in myself and looking back at turbulent times in my life and how I wrote about what I read and even just what I read is a fascinating snapshot in time.

What I can NEVER forget is that this blog is, always has been and always will be for me.

Don’t get me wrong, I love the interaction with the amazing book (and other) bloggers I’ve met over the past four years, but really this blog is my own private book journal that just happens to be public. I don’t censor my thoughts (with the exception of length), I post everything I read (regardless of embarrassment factor) and mostly I use it as a reference, especially for series or long convoluted books. If other people enjoy it, that’s an added bonus.

I have let other things seep into this blog like Culture Corner, Workout Wednesdays and my 30 x 30 list, they’re still related to books and how I select what I read. The intersection of art/culture and literature is obvious and it’s not that much of a stretch to connect workouts to reading. For example:

I’m not wrong… (Both of those tees are available at Look Human, and you’re welcome to buy me either :-D) As with how this blog is and always has been for me, this blog will continue to be about books, or at least tangentially connected to books and culture.

When I realized I needed the space to explore non-book/literature related subjects, I pestered a friend to start Now Entering Adulthood to look at other aspects of our lives, specifically around turning 30, and I can’t wait to see where it takes me. Unlike many bloggers out there, don’t worry I’ll go into it tomorrow—remember scathing critique—this will remain a hobby.

And no matter how many galleys I receive or how many authors say thanks or that they appreciate my review, I can pull the plug at any minute. Sure, we all secretly hope we’ll be discovered and get offered a book deal or a chance to write a weekly article or something like that. Who wouldn’t say no to a book deal, a weekly article or just enough money to pay for hosting and fun upgrades and giveaways?

Honestly, I probably would. What it comes down to is I’m not a big self promoter and wouldn’t want to do 99% of what some people do, and I find obnoxious (see tomorrow’s post). One day, I feel like I will pull the plug and walk away, but when I do it’ll be because something else has come along to provide me the creative outlet and stability that this blog has provided for the past few years. Or I would get so frustrated with what I saw around me that I’d be ready to pull the plug. But, let’s face it, for every blog that annoys me I find four or five more that have the childish enthusiasm of newly discovering the book blogging community.

I guess I’m just getting crotchety in my old blogging age. It’s like dog years right? Every year on a blog is like 10+ years in real life? I think I’ll stop there. Enjoy, and see you all tomorrow.