This, That, and the Other

For this week’s Blogging Insights prompt, Dr. Tanya has asked what our “blogging backstory” is. She wants to know:

Why and how did you begin blogging?

Blogging is an important, integral, and meaningful part of my life. I first started blogging in 2005 and my plan is to continue to blog as long as I am mentally and physically able to do so.

With that said, just yesterday, Lorraine, aka blindzanygirl, asked us in her blog, “Why Do You Blog?” My response to her question is essentially the answer to Tonya’s question about why and how I began blogging. So rather than reinventing the wheel, I’m going to copy and paste my response to Lorraine’s question yesterday as my response to Tanya’s question today.

I started blogging in 2005 when I mentioned to a work associate that I enjoyed writing short stories and also writing letters to the editor of my local newspaper, a number of which had been published. He suggest that I should consider blogging. So I did. First I blogged at Blogger. Then, in 2009, I migrated to TypePad. In 2013, I switched to WordPress, and by then I was addicted to blogging.

By 2015, I had become so preoccupied with blogging that my work was suffering, my marriage was suffering, and I knew I had to reassess my priorities. So in April of 2015, I abruptly quit blogging.

I retired at the end of 2016. By then my wife and I had also sorted out our issues. And with the insanity of Donald Trump having been elected POTUS, I was itching to get back to blogging in order to express my outrage.

So on May 14, 2017, I published my first post on This, That, and the Other.

That is my blogging backstory. I still like to express myself creatively by writing short stories (flash fiction). I still enjoy writing letter-to-the-editor-type post wherein I share my opinions, views, perspective, and outrage. But most of all, what keeps me blogging is the ability to interact daily with a wonderful, supportive global community of bloggers who encourage me to keep on keeping on.