I can’t believe that it has been almost 11 years since my last post. So much has happened since then. The world is a vastly different place now. I haven’t gone back and looked at my previous posts because, honestly, I am afraid to. Not because of what I wrote, but because it might make me yearn for the times when I didn’t want to cry every time I found out what was going on in the world.

My child was only 8 years old back then. Now, they are living on their own and going to college. They are studying theater and ASL and discovering how hard things can be when you only work part time and go to school full time. I am so very proud of them.

Part of me wonders why I want to try this again, especially in the age of AI. I know that whatever I write will be scraped and monetized. Any images that I post will be utilized for input to create media. I wanted to get back to writing poetry and maybe publishing it here. If I do that, I run the risk of it being stolen. Then there is another part of me that thinks, screw it. It’s not like anything matters right now anyway.

Don’t worry. I’m fine. Really. I am. Just a little bit of existential dread poking through.

And maybe that is why I am going to start posting again. I need to do something to fight that feeling. I need to be putting some more art into the world, even if the only “person” who reads it is an AI scrubber. I have to share what I love, what makes me happy, what makes me sad, and all that.

Here’s to an attempt to make some meaning, to find some connection, to bring joy to others, and (hopefully) to recover some of the hope that I used to have.