I.

Hello there.

I have updated this space somewhat regularly since 2006. Two thousand six. As a matter of fact, the end of this month will mark the 7th anniversary of Leslie Wiggins’ little spot o’ interweb real estate. Seems like forever ago. And, in internet years, it’s like a century.

I’m just feeling a little nostalgic. Indulge me?

When this started, I blogged from my laundry room. Karl set up a desk area in there for me and put a lock on the door. It was my own little private spot. The children were much younger and the laundry room was my room of refuge. I read books, reviewed books, wrote about my life, politics, and solved society’s ills, all while processing the laundry.

Back then we had major plumbing issues associated with our laundry room. (Plumbing issues are part & parcel of owning an old home). The pipe leading away from the washer was the Joe Miller of pipes — it just couldn’t handle all the water at once. I used to stand at the machine and turn the motor off and on, controlling the water-flow until the tub drained. Not even replacing the pipes could fix it. You want to know the ultimate remedy? Installing a water-efficient machine. Gloryhallelujahamen, no more sprinting to the laundry to prevent a flood!

I don’t really recall the circumstances surrounding my moving out of the laundry room, but I think it had something to do with needing another computer and desk in the school room. Nowadays, I blog from anywhere. The children are older, and I no longer feel the psychological-health need to hide from them from time to time. Instead, they vie for their own spaces and attempt to hide from me.

II.

Originally, I called my blog, “Lux Venit,” and my theme was Isaiah 60:1, “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you.” I wrote a lot about Jesus and most of it was roll-my-eyes bad. Sometimes I wonder if I over-shared in those days. I didn’t think twice about sharing exactly how I felt about a thing. When I was feeling depressed, you knew it. I think people worried about me because someone would call or email to let me know that they were praying for me. But the great thing about the way I blogged back then was that it was therapeutic. And real. Having a reader respond with encouragement or, “I feel the same way,” was uplifting. I’m sure the prayers helped, too, though.

In 2006, when I shared with someone that I wrote a blog, I had to explain to someone what a blog was. The response was usually a strange look, followed by, “That’s neat.” Then, the internet got bigger. It’s no longer an interesting talking point to have a blog nowadays because EVERYONE and their pets have blogs. I mean that literally, not tongue-in-cheek…pets have blogs. It seems only fair since we wouldn’t have the internet without the aid of cats.

III.

Blogging was fun! I had a little circle of bloggy-friends, and we all listed one another on our sidebars, visited, and commented on every post. I even wrote a series of posts on blogging etiquette. (They seem terribly out-dated now that social media has boomed). We tagged one another in posts and passed around silly memes. We took quizzes and laughed with each other. Total fun and purposeless.

The last two years or so, I have really struggled with a purpose for this site. What’s my goal? Why do I blog?  The new blogging rules say things like, “Build your tribe,” “build your brand,” and, “shorter is better.”

Who decided those rules anyway? Who says I have to keep my posts short because readers are all, “TL;DR?”

Well, I’m bringing long-form back, y’all.

 

The End.