A Century of Writing

Today, dear reader, marks a milestone for me.  Today is a pretty special day in my 'career' as a blogger / writer.  And, as I sit and contemplate what I have accomplished since I started this journey, I realize that I have grown.  By a few pounds, a bit larger circumference, and a few more grey hair in my beard.  Those are all positive growth attributes, but not really what I mean by 'I have grown'.  I truly believe that I have grown as a writer.  As of this very moment, I am not sure where this post is going, but I do know that it will be a reflection.  A reflection on this milestone.  A reflection on a century of writing.  A century of Fifafan subjecting his readers to his thoughts (fully clothed).  Dear reader, this post is my century mark.  This post is number 100.  And so, let me reflect.

As long as I can remember, I have enjoyed writing.  I haven’t always done it well (and I still don’t), and I always haven’t put my best pen forward, but I have always had an interest in it.  Before the computer age, we had pens and paper, and I employed those tools in the writing of letters to friends around the world.  I loved writing letters.  And of course, the ‘blog’ as we know it today did not exist.  Oh, I played around with personal journal’s (I’m loathe to call it a diary), but they never really amounted to much.

Surprisingly, I used to really enjoy poetry.  I wrote several poems in my English classes in High School, and received fairly decent marks for them.  Maybe the teacher was being nice to me, and graded me good for effort rather than content, but I really did enjoy poems.  Maybe I should try writing in that style and format again.  After all, even my reader(s) need a good laugh.

As for blogging, it really started for me in 2009.  February 2009 to be exact.  That was the time that my best friend was diagnosed with cancer.  Many of you were with us on that journey…through my first blog.  I felt it was a brilliant way to keep people informed of the events and statuses.  Through a traumatic and difficult time, a passion was re-kindled in me.  A passion for writing.  Yes, at first the blog was only about the cancer journey, but as my style was developed and my comfort in words grew, I found that I wanted to do more.  I wanted to share more of my thoughts, my dreams, my opinions.  And so I did.

I started putting words into print, poorly at first.  But, as with the cancer blog, my writing developed, my use of different words expanded, and I think my posts became more readable and maybe even more entertaining.  I wrote some serious stuff (A Prayer For Stef, 2010/11/23 & 11 Years Ago, 2010/10/07).  Both of those articles moved me in a way I didn’t think could happen.  Both of those articles kept the fire burning, for I felt I wrote some really good stuff.   Yes, I have written some very personal stuff.  I have also written some off the wall stuff.  A Mistress to Many, 2010/10/09 and Wanna Smoke, 2010/08/22 come to mind.  Those 4 articles, along with Papillons de l’Amour, 2010/09/13 may be among the best stuff I’ve ever done.

Yes, dear reader, this post was reflective of the past 3 years.  There have been times where I have written very little, whether due to a lack of inspiration or a lack of caring.  I almost stepped away from it completely, because I didn’t think I had it in me anymore.  The passion was gone.  But, I didn’t make any rash decisions, and today I am still writing.  A while ago I started my online journal.  This was to fulfill my promise to myself to write 100 words per day, and I think it has been very helpful.  I feel good about my writing, and there is that fire burning again.

100 posts I have written and published.  100 times I have expressed my feelings to anyone who wanted to read it.  The century mark is a big thing no matter what it applies to.  If a person hits 100 years of age, it is a big deal.  The turn of the century was a big deal.  Falling short in the ‘big deal’ category, but still important (to me) is the 100 posts on Fifafan.ca.

Dear reader, this is 100.  My next post will be 101, and the start of a brand new journey.  The journey to 200.  Very few of us will see the turn of two centuries.  None of us will live to be 200.  But, if all goes according to plan, most of us will see the next milestone.  Fifafan’s 200^th post.  Reflecting we have gone, and reflecting we will go.  But first, I have 99 more articles to write.  I hope you’re along for the ride.

FF