(Former) blogging heroes

Work has been crazy lately, to the point that I’ve had to let it bleed regularly into my life, at least in terms of committing extra time to it. As such, I haven’t had time to blog. But the other day, I had an intriguing topic come to mind that I thought bore some exploring: my blogging heroes. Or more accurately, my former blogging heroes. And by “heroes” I mean people that either inspired me to first blog, or others that blogged (or have blogged) and I’ve added them to my reading list. Even if it means a year has passed since their last post. Whatever. I don’t actually read their stuff much, so I don’t often find myself checking out their pages and wondering: “when are they going to post next?”

I had two actual blogging heroes that unwittingly to them inspired me to start writing online for free, all on a whim. They both had already been blogging for a few years, and I had been following for some time as well, and I remember being captivated by their topics, their insights, and moreso what they chose to write and opine about. One posted about a decently wide range of topics, from music to spirituality to everyday observations, to, yes, personal life stuff. The other did as well, although not quite as broadly, sticking to everyday observations and stories from their own life, but presented it in a much more serious manner. One was a teen-turning-into-a-young-adult, and the other was considerably older. One was a guy I knew from my high school youth group at church, and the other, well, was my mom.

Neither of them blogs anymore and haven’t for a very long time. I think the last time either one of them posted was in 2010. I think it’s just as well. In my experience, I have found that an inverse relationship often exists between the frequency and quality of one’s posts. Unless I’m posting my pastor’s sermons at church. Then the quality is at least consistent.

In more recent years I have chosen to follow four individuals on my reading list, one of whom removed their blog and I can no longer access it. That person was a Christian who was also passionate about the theatre, particularly musical theatre. I even worked as a rehearsal accompanist for one of his productions, which was a lot of fun. I lost touch with him years ago, but I’ve heard through mutual friends that he is doing well.

Another individual was/is a missionary who used to go to my (former) church who now lives in another part of the country. He led the very first men’s bible study group I ever was a part of, which is how I knew him. But he also wrote music, and he also blogged. Most of the topics he posted about fascinated me, a blend of occasional personal life stuff (mostly to do with the family he was raising), with a plethora of faith topics and reflections on his relationship with Jesus. I generally enjoyed the topics he posted, as it often was an opportunity to challenge and encourage my faith as well. We largely dropped out of touch when he and his family moved, although we’ve briefly interfaced on the super-rare occasions when he was in town.

Another person I know through a different aspect of my life, a (young) grandmotherly figure of sorts. In real life we’ve encouraged each other in our respective healing journeys, and she continues to maintain a regular blog with deep insights and interesting memory trinkets. Her focus is solely on how God interacts in her life through the different aspects of the journey she walks. I find it fascinating how, because of how well I got to know her personal life story, her blog will touch on certain moments and often go in a different direction from what I already knew. It’s cool to see how she experiences Jesus in her life as well.

Finally, and I’m not sure why I put this person last, except that he came to mind last as I was writing this. (He was certainly not last when I was thinking about this earlier!) This was a guy I knew in college who, for a short while when I was a young adult, I identified and agreed with on a lot of things (based on what he wrote about). As such, his blogs were a fascinating read as well. Now, not so much, since I got saved and started believing and understanding more about Biblical truths. Of the blogs I currently have the option to peruse, his is the least likely that I would be interested in reading about. But there was a period of a few years where I was fascinated enough with what he wrote about that I read his as religiously as I had the others.

I often find myself curious about how I ended up meeting and knowing certain people in my life. About 15 years ago, I wrote a couple series of these types of stories, where I would name a friend, and then write about him (or her), how we met, how we became friends, and if there was a point where we fell out of touch, what happened and why.

For the first time since… well… I can’t really remember now… probably about ten years ago, I’m making new friends and developing new community.

(I’m being facetious when I say I don’t remember. The truth is, for many years, the answer was: “in therapy,” which is kinda hard to write about given that the nature of these relationships are confidential, except perhaps in cases where certain friendships grew outside the confines of the therapy experience. I made a lot of friends while in therapy. And then said goodbye to a lot of friends when I graduated. So, yeah.)

So, excepting therapy, it’s been a long time. I enjoy bringing people together, people that might not otherwise know each other. I introduced the two friends from college I still keep in touch with the most. I don’t say this to blast my own trumpet, but rather to share that, while I consider myself more of an introvert than an extrovert, I do enjoy bringing people together. Both Bible studies I’m leading are examples of this. I’m fascinated with one-on-one friendships and small groups, and just how people know each other, and the stories that go with it, not just with my own friendships but also with those of others.