Everything You Want Is Wrong

I never wanted any of this. I didn’t want a blog. I didn’t want interaction with strangers. I didn’t want friends; I had enough friends. I didn’t want to share my thoughts on the Internet. And I sure didn’t want to type out 1000 words for fun and not receive a mark in return.

But that’s exactly what I’ve ended up with.

Today is my two-year blogiversary.

I started this blog in the wee hours of the morning on June 23, 2013. I can’t believe where the time has gone.

Did I know what I was doing? Not at all. The theme of my blog and colour scheme is still exactly how it was on day one. I changed the header image a few weeks ago just to see what a different picture would look like and it felt weird. I immediately switched it back.

Who knows, maybe I’ll eventually change it to something else. For now, though, I can’t.

My intention for this blog was to write about sports. I didn’t care about followers; I didn’t even know there was such a thing. I didn’t want interaction with weirdos. I just wanted a place to talk about sports.

So that’s what I did.

My first post had zero likes until these past two weeks. Now, it has two likes.

Do you want to read my first ever blog post? Here it is: Leading Off.

After a few months of writing about sports, I came to a roadblock. I realized that anything I said about sports had probably already been said somewhere else on the Internet. What made my opinion matter? What made me different? Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

I can’t tell you how much that bothers me. To always go with the flow and do what everyone else is doing. I can’t stand it. I like my own ideas.

By September 2013, my mind was telling me to write about sports, while my heart was telling me to write about something else.

So, I did. I wrote a post called I Miss School, Already. It got Freshly Pressed. That was the turning point.

Anyone can think of the same idea as someone else and put it into words. But only you can speak from your own heart.

That’s what makes us different, y’all.

I started making friends on WordPress. Real people; not weirdos. I’m looking at you, followers from September 2013.

[I have had an urge lately to start writing about sports again, but I know as soon as I do, I will alienate almost all of you. I apologize in advance. If I write about sports and that doesn’t interest you, don’t feel obligated to read it. I’ll understand.]

Fast forward to March 2014. The majority of my posts were not about sports. I got Freshly Pressed again; it was a post about sports. I found it ironic.

Then I got tired. I got tired of thinking. I got tired of blogging. I got tired of writing meaningful posts that no one seemed to care about.

Out of twelve months, I only posted more than five posts in two of the months. Last year, my blog was like a tumbleweed blowing through an empty street.

Fast forward to March 2015. I got my mojo back. I don’t know what it was, but something started to click. I started to be myself. My entire self. All the jokes and pizza references I make, this is me.

I started making new friends. I won’t dare attempt to make a list of names because there are too many. You know who you are. <— Such a high school yearbook thing to say.

People have been telling me that I’m funny and they look forward to reading my blog every day. I almost don’t believe it. These compliments are still new to me. A lot of you think I’ve been this “good” forever.

I’ve gone from a sports blogger who didn’t care about interacting with followers to a blogger who only wants to make his followers smile, laugh, and crave pizza every second of the day.

So cheesy.

Joseph Arthur wrote the song lyric, “Everything you want is wrong” in his song, Honey And The Moon.

I think those five words sum up my blog perfectly. They also sum up life in general, but you can make those connections on your own.

This blog has turned into something I did not want.

I am so glad that it has.

Your Captain,
Paul #91

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Stick around for the party. I asked all of you in a previous post to bring a food item. So far, people are bringing: pizza, CAKE, pavlova, virtual chips, drinks, pasta, donuts, lobster, mini hot dogs, M&Ms, and guacamole. Feel free to bring more. We’re all gaining weight today.  

I also asked you to buy me a gift. Yeah, I can be sentimental and greedy in the same post. Tell me in the comments below what you got me!