A is for Awesome

Why awesome?
Because this is my 1000th post. That's a huge milestone, especially for a part time blogger like me. That's a lot of words.

Why awesome?
Because doing this for nearly nine years has improved my skill. I'm a much better writer today than I was nine years ago.

Why awesome?
Since re-branding this blog as The Faithful Geek, I've given myself an identity. I'm being true to my nerd roots and starting to find my tribe - something that is essential for all writers.

Why awesome?
Because I finally feel confident enough to describe myself as a writer.


To be honest, I didn't know what I was doing when I launched this blog. The first title was just Random Thoughts. It wasn't pretty. I started it for one reason: a coworker was doing it and I had that Cranberries moment of 'Everybody else is doing it, so why not me?'

Along the way, I learned some basic HTML, got connected with some other local bloggers through Hucks Online, and improved my typing speed. At some point, I added the words Rants and Raves before the existing title of Random Thoughts thinking that it fit my OOOH Shiny personality a little better. As I continued, I considered this to be an ongoing love letter to my kids so that they could someday look back when I'm no longer around and know what kind of man I was. I considered this an opportunity for my parents to keep track of what was going on in my life so that they didn't have to stalk me on facebook. I considered this to be nothing more than a place for me to get my thoughts out of my head. A creative outlet.

Then something happened. I wrote about Bricks and Springs. For the first time, I felt like I truly had something to say that could make an impact. That still remains my most visited post. A couple of years later, I wrote a seven part manifesto about the church to encourage us and say that we can do better. Finally, I had found my voice.

Last summer, I joined something called the Start Experiment to challenge myself to chase after some dreams. I began to recognize my passions and wrote about where it started. It is through connections I made in that group that I started to recognize a need to focus this blog and make it something that is uniquely my own thing and re-branded it.

First, an idea. Then a voice. Now an identity and an audience.

This has been a journey of the Don't Stop Believing variety and I am excited to compose my next 1000 posts. I declare that to be awesome.

Thank you for joining me in this adventure.