Ugh. Here we go. It’s so cliche, but here is my first blog post. It’s so funny how when we toy with an idea in our mind it sounds so fantastic in theory but in practice, getting started is kind of clunky. I’ve spent my life writing. In elementary school I won UIL competitions for creative writing. I wrote stories with my friends all through high school. And here’s a little secret between you and me. My friends *paid* me to write their college papers. And I was GOOD at it. Like, I could charge them for an A, B, C, or even D papers (some of my friends specifically wanted lower grades because they knew if they busted out an A+ literary masterpiece their professors would know something was up). I spent my ENTIRE master’s program writing. I taught writing as a grad assistant and then as an adjunct. I spend a good portion of my job now writing. I’ve jotted down and brainstormed and henscratched notes in 17 notebooks in preparation for big dreams of changing the world with my words. I researched “how to start a blog” and snooped on my friends’ blog pages. And yet, when I got here…I didn’t know where to start. The general consensus seems to be that your first blog post is going to suck you just have to accept that, which is incredibly painful considering I’m an insane perfectionist. But, here we are. All the great writers say “just write”. So. I’ve got some words down and we’re on our way.

So, why blog? What’s this all about? Well, I will tell you friends. In my 38 years on this earth if there’s one thing I’ve come to learn, it is that we all just want to know we’re not alone. To be honest, I feel quite lonely a good portion of the time. And not necessarily lonely in that I have no one or that I’m alone, although I’ve certainly had my fair share of that experience too. But I mean, like…am I the only one like me? Surely that can’t be so. Surely I can’t be the only neurospicy trauma-informed femme polyamorous pansexual pagan psychology major parent gone social worker in a conservative state during a pandemic under late stage capitalism with a WWWIII atmosphere while being pro-choice, pro-decriminalization, and a civil rights internet vigilante. Can I?

With a world as big as this, surely not. At least, I hope not. And even if I am, surely some of you can relate. After all, we’re all just people doing the human experience. So, here goes nothing. I hope all of our sakes, we’re not alone and at the very least, we have each other, and my little servings of brain stew make you feel a little less alone, or at the very least, give you something to chew on when your belly feels empty and you don’t know what to eat.