Welcome to 10 Years of Blog Posts

 Yes, it's been 10 long years since I started this blog. I think my first one was published on (or around) the 4th of August, 2013.

In those years I've lived in three different states, changed jobs four times, had one serious relationship and breakup, made a lot of friends, published poems and short stories, got a cat, and done a bunch of other things that I don't feel like listing out.

A lot has changed, though that doesn't mean I've progressed towards anything.

My earliest blog posts (on this site at least) were under an email addressed affiliated with my undergrad university. That email address went away earlier this month and with it, all the pictures linked into those early posts. I could go back and "fix" this, but part of me wants to keep moving forward and not look back at those old posts. 

I first started writing this blog because the adult world felt like Wonderland - nonsensical and crazy. 

Occasionally, it still does. Though, I like to think that I've gotten the hang of a few things in the decade I've been posting about my life lessons, opinions, and musings. I may have started with the intention of providing advice and lists of things of "what not to do", but it has changed along with myself.

I like to think that I've changed for the better and will continue to do so. I'm fairly positive that I've grown as a person and that I will continue do so. Kind of like the song "For Good" from Wicked. This blog has seen me through a lot of things.

This is not a "goodbye" post. I'm not ready to stop posting - maybe not weekly, but close enough. Sometimes I think I'm a little too attached to this blog than I meant to be.

Fun fact, though the overall name of the blog is a nod to Lewis Carrol's Alice in Wonderland, the reason each post starts with "Welcome to..." is from the anime Welcome to the NHK. I saw this anime my final semester of university in a class on Japanese Manga, Anime, and Pop Culture. It was about three young adults trying to navigate the challenges of adulthood while dealing with mental health problems, societal demands, and change in general. It really stuck with me and I've used it for every post on this blog.

So, here's to the next ten years. 

Will I still be writing this blog then? I don't know (part of me hopes I've moved on to bigger and better things or finally ran out of thoughts to put on the Internet).

I do know that I won't be the same then as I am today.

And I'm sure you'll be different too.

Until next week.

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