I’m Back!

It’s been years since I’ve blogged. I think I stopped, for one, because when I got serious about my poetry, I was afraid posting it myself would reduce the chances of publication. Second, I transitioned from what once looked like a blog from the early 90’s (if we’d had WordPress back then). It was quite emotional to relinquish the nostalgia (and dramatic too because I almost deleted everything!). I needed to renew my website so that it would serve me by showcasing my offerings and concentrating my works in one place. Otherwise, how would people who need my services find me?

Finally, there’s the hypnotic pull of social media which has drawn in all of our attention and become the modern-day blog, the preferred medium of many (if not most), and where most of us have an audience for our thoughts.

And yet, I have had a project in mind, things I’ve been wanting to share with the world for years now, and I’m finally beginning to believe the best way to do that is to expand the channels to which I lend my voice. I want it to be an authentic space where I am not restricting my message based on character counts or catch phrases; not falling into the traps of algorithms; pinning away for likes, comments, and shares; or the façade of wondering what will get noticed and trying to appeal. Just me and my good ole friend, the blank white page.

I also miss the type of community that social media seems to not have been able to replace from my old blog days: The way one can feel so seen by a stranger, the connections built on the power of words alone. I don’t know who is still here, who is still watching this space after all these years — but here goes nothing! I will start with sharing some older parts of my journey that have led me to the point I have arrived at now, a “catching up,” if you will. Sometimes an essay, sometimes in vignettes, sometimes a poem or a quote. I want to tell you everything I’ve learned with the hopes you might gain something from it as well. I want to show you all the ways I’ve been learning how to shine.

Welcome to the new blog series: The “artist” formerly known as “As Open As the Sky,” will now be called “Learning How to Shine.”