I was on my lunch hour. At the time, I was working for Bank of America and, while I didn't realize it at the time, the big financial bubble was about to burst, with implications that have bedeviled us ever since. I enjoyed my job as a financial analyst, but BofA had decided to close its location in the Twin Cities and consolidate operations on the West Coast. I was faced with a potentially life-changing decision: do I stay with BofA and move my family to Portland, Oregon, or do I accept a severance package and stay in Minnesota?
When faced with a life-changing decision, you have to do some critical thinking. You have to weigh your options, consider the financial impact and the wishes of your children. You have to imagine how different your life would be. So I had a lot on my mind that day. And what did I do?
I started a blog. This blog.
As it turned out, starting a blog was as much of a life-changing decision as anything else I was contemplating that day. Over the course of six years, a total of 2,787 posts have appeared in this space. I've written most of them, with some assistance from my family. I've chronicled family events and the passing scene. And I've met some wonderful people.
Rather a lot has happened in the last six years. I ended up taking the severance and it took a long time to find a good job, although I did, eventually, not long before the bottom fell out on a lot of other people, including many of my BofA colleagues. In the meantime, I was diagnosed with a pituitary tumor and got to meet neurosurgeons and endocrinologists. My kids have charged through their childhoods into adolescence. And the Packers have gone from being a 4-12 footwipe to a Super Bowl championship.
It's difficult to imagine what the world will look like in six years, given the amount of tumult we have seen since that quiet afternoon in 2005. I suspect the pace of change will only increase and that the challenges ahead will be especially daunting. The world doesn't seem nearly so happy in 2011 as it did in 2005. Still, I wouldn't be surprised if things look better in six years. And I fully expect to write another navel-gazer on the blog's 12th anniversary.
4 comments:
It's been a long time since I looked back in the archives, but you remind me that there's value to be had there. I like your thought that six years from now might actually be better. That would be wonderful. Especially if "better" meant that we had hit bottom and were willing to confess that we have a problem.
In any event, keep churning and you'll find yourself blogging about graduations and engagements!
i look forward to the next six years.
blogging changes/expands lives. who knew? i sure didnt.
Happy Blog Birthday, Mr Dilettante.
And I, among others, give thanks that you chose to stay in Minnesota, and that you started a blog. I killed off my blog, but I tweet quite a few things from your blog. And yes, I have given credit and recommended that my followers read your blog.
Wishing you at least six more years of rich, bloggy goodness, success and happiness
I actually signed up in Oct. 2004 but didn't commit regularly until Nov. 2005. So essentially Mark and I have been blogging around the same amount of time but I've kicked out a mere 1,300+ posts.
But I concur, D., in that I never anticipated the number of great people I'd meet along the way.
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