As some of you know, my wife and I were quarantined with COVID symptoms over the holidays. We’re all recovered and okay, but I missed my usual year-end post! The first week of January I always make a post showcasing my top performing posts from the last year (whether it be visits, comments, likes, etc.). Despite everything, and despite being a bit late, I won’t let tradition die now!
Here are 2020’s top posts in order, with an excerpt and a link if you want to read the posts for yourself:
“I’ve recently started a new career, a lot more creative than being a mailman, that’s taken us out of the emerald trees of the Pacific Northwest and into the golden sands of Arizona. Regular readers will know I was raised mostly in Arizona and that this move is taking me back to my roots. For my brave, wonderful wife, Victoria, it isn’t such an easy transition. Not to say it’s an easy transition for any of us, but we are stepping out in faith. A change in lifestyle. A change in pace. A hope and a prayer. Those are the things keeping us on our toes right now.”
2. TMI Story About the Most Embarrassing Thing That’s Ever Happened To Me
“I don’t remember very much about the church, except that it was brown. Very brown. Brown walls, brown carpet, brown pews. I also don’t remember my exact age, but my family was still living in Colorado at the time. That tells me I was definitely younger than ten-years-old and probably older than five. And I had a really upset stomach.
I would get really bad social anxiety stomach aches growing up, even when I was just going to school. To worsen things, if I had eaten something that my body wasn’t really feeling the vibes of, then my organs would throw a #anusisoverparty. The net result was me on a mission to the bathroom—in this case, the bathroom of a very brown church.”
3. I’m Back and Ready to Ramble About Fatherhood and Society
“I’m a father, and I turned 24 this month. A lot of people in my life told me I was too young to get married, or expressed concern about Victoria and I starting a family too young. But, from the bottom of my heart, I’m so happy we did. Nothing has ever brought me so much fulfillment as being a husband or simply holding our baby girl in my arms. She’s able to move her head around pretty freely now, and to know that she could look away and is still choosing to return my infatuated gaze is just…too much to express in words.
Honestly, the biggest thing 2020 has me thinking about so far—besides washing my hands four times as often to avoid the corona virus and the fact that a small human life is dependent on Victoria and I—is how extremely short life is. I know, I know. A person in their early to mid twenties talking about the brevity of life is ridiculous. (I say early to mid twenties because I’m desperately clinging on to whatever “early” twenties means.) But in the past few weeks Lucy has grown so fast it’s given me whiplash. Humans grow and change so quickly, and not just infants!”
4. New Year, New Decade: A Quick Look Back
“2019 is leaving and 2020 is almost here. Another year, another decade in the books, and what a decade it’s been.
Ten years ago today I was a thirteen year old still living in Arizona. I was still working on my first or second horrible draft of my first novel, The Book of Ardilia. I don’t think I had even read Lord of the Rings yet. The first MCU Iron Man and Hulk movies were only a year old, and Marvel Studios wasn’t owned by Disney yet. America’s first ever black president, President Obama, was navigating his first year in office and was about to lead us into the most pop culture decade there ever was; and the same president would later ratify marriage equality. Women and those subjected to abuse raised their voices with #MeToo, causing real cultural waves across the country, even the world. Star Wars found its way back into cinemas with a more diverse cast, a female lead, and lots of mixed reviews. We got our first female led superhero movies with Wonder Woman and Captain Marvel. The Fourth Industrial Revolution of AI and tech took new, huge strides, and people like presidential candidate Andrew Yang are stepping up to guide the American people through it. We saw huge numbers in regards to climate change, and we saw some world leaders, some lawmakers, and Time Magazine’s Person of the Year Greta Thunberg stand up to bear the burden of progress on the issue.”
Those are the top four! In the next few weeks I’ll be rolling out a big announcement, a way to bring more content to you — the readers — and a way for other writers and content creators to get their creations into the world. Please subscribe if you haven’t already to stay up to date on that, and everything else going on here on the website! If you care to, give this post a like and share it, or don’t! You do you, reader. You do you!
2020 is behind us; great things are ahead. I hope. I don’t know, knock on wood or something. Talk soon!
BJL // A New Thing Design 