It has been over a year since I last posted anything to this blog. I imagine it isn’t uncommon for many uncommitted bloggers like myself to begin anew shortly after the start of a new year (and new resolutions). Only the coming months (and years) will tell if my determination to blog more frequently will land on the massive pile of broken resolutions and missed goals. Already I’m slipping from my original intent of writing daily. Perhaps I’ll adjust and shoot to post 365 times over the coming year. Here is what I wrote on January first as I flew from Washington, DC to Denver:
I entered 2015 with the explicit goal to post more frequently to this blog. I’ve never given this site the attention I have always intended to give it and I felt more frequent blog posts in 2015 would be a good start towards reinvigorating it. Headed into 2015 I didn’t believe I could post daily, but I thought writing a few times a week was a realistic and obtainable goal. In 2015, as in past years, I’ve always started my “New Year’s Resolutions” AFTER CES because of the sporadic and chaotic nature of that week for me. This goal, together with others I set headed into 2015, weren’t going to materialize as planned however.
Immediately following the 2015 CES I flew to San Francisco to officially launch “Digital Destiny: How the New Age of Data Will Transform the Way We Work, Live, and Communicate.” I marked the official launch of the book on the morning of January 13, 2015 by speaking at a Churchill Club event. Later that day I had a meeting at Infinite Loop (Apple’s HQ). When the meeting was cancelled I decided to beeline it for SFO in the hopes of jumping an earlier flight than the redeye I had scheduled. I was anxious to see my family and liked the idea of surprising them by getting in earlier than expected and being there when they woke up.
The late afternoon flight I caught got me to my house around 2AM. I walked into my house to find everyone gone and divorce papers waiting for me on the kitchen counter. Yes, my wife filed for divorce while I was at CES – a cliché seemingly ripped from a Silicon Valley episode. Divorce is hard whether you want it or not. My priorities changed as suddenly as my paradigm. Goals like “blogging three times a week” dissolved quickly. Our divorce was finalized in September after futile attempts to reconcile over several months. I’m appreciative for a year filled with much self-reflection. In the end, it is clear we didn’t bring out the best in each other and I’m grateful for the peace I feel.
I enter 2016 with the goal to (once again) revisit the blog and write and post daily (yes daily!). It is an ambitious goal because the habit isn’t yet solidified. Unlike past years, wherein I’ve started my new year’s goals and resolutions after CES, I decided I would try to jump right in. My intent is to shoot for 500 words (or more) a day. Topics will very drastically. I might scribble some early thoughts that will feed an op-ed down the road. I’m currently engrossed with exploring and researching how the Internet is impacting society and imagine this will become a frequent topic for blog posts in the year ahead. I’m sure I’ll comment on things I see happening in the tech sector – especially when I feel like the vast majority of people are missing it. I’m sure I will undoubtedly post on vulnerability and love and family and friendships and divorce and peace and all assortment of similar topics should I feel so moved to write.
In the past I have been a prolific journal keeper. For several years I wrote every day and as a result I have thousands of pages filling boxes of books. I hadn’t kept a journal for years but began again last year. I enter 2016 with 163 entries on 117 different days over the last 13 months. I suppose my hope intent with my blog is to bifurcate my writing.
It will be difficult to write on days when I am with my boys – I tend to pour all of my attention into them when we are together. But I will do the best I can. And with that, here we go!
