A Heads Up

This journal has been around for a year now. It's amazing how fast time went by since the first entry. It's difficult to tell if my writing has changed over the life of this journal, but it's easy to see that my life has changed since I began writing.

When I first started, I thought I would have this very outgoing and bold online personality. It would be like playing a character on television. Online David would be a cool, clever and charismatic guy, the antithesis of who I am or perceive myself to be in real life.

But there was no sudden or dramatic transformation. When I wrote, no great poet or author emerged. My writing is common and workmanlike at best. The character I drew was not a superhero by any stretch of the imagination. I may be Clark Kent, but I'm no Superman.

I'm glad it happened that way. It made me realize things about myself, like the extent of my shyness. I learned my anxiety isn't infinite, but has limits, which means I can deal with it. I'm not as quiet or mild as I often believe, but I still need to speak up more. I've never been as hopeless or helpless as I sometimes envision myself.

This has been a diary, a scrapbook, a private pep talk and a chronicle of my amusements. It has been a way to share and hide my thoughts, a way to reach out and retreat, a source of motivation and regret.

I have come across so many kind and cool people because of this journal. Some I've met in real life and some I've only contacted online, but hope to meet someday. Reading their journals has inspired me and exposed me to so many new and diverse perspectives and interests. I want to thank them for sharing and I want to thank you, dear readers, both known and anonymous, for visiting and skimming these words.

Because twelve months have nearly passed, this domain will soon be expiring. I've been slowly migrating the archives to a new domain with a name that isn't so mine (thank goodness), but more web-appropriate. When the new place is running, you’ll be the first to know. I just wanted to give everybody a heads up.