The Portland Freelancer: One Year Later

Interesting way to begin the first birthday of the Portland Freelancer, with a "Forbidden" message from my server. I thought it was Trump blocking the picture below or some sort of fee I didn't pay. As with many computer problems, it sometimes helps to walk away for a while.

So what does the blogging experience mean? For me, it's therapy, a way to clear the mind's desk of clutter and get on to the real issues of life. It's also healthy in that you get to vent and make a contribution. Of course, it can feel a little ugly at times as with the Mercury's attack on you know who this week.
I personally have felt regrets about a few posts. The Saddam hanging wasn't my finest hour. Mainly though, I've slowly gotten into a flow. One of my most widespread posts was written in one shot with hardly a word of correction. That's what all this writing has done - smoothed out the process. The second best part of blogging is that you can edit later after it's out there, but sometimes the posts come out smooth and ready to roll.

The best part of blogging is when you get things off your chest that have bothered you a long time. For whatever reason, knowing that anyone in the world could read it, means that you're communicating directly to a collective soul. I'm referring to some posts I wrote about my friend who was killed by terrorists. I don't know why but blogging about that was helpful. It got rid of some of the baggage. So in that sense, blogging allows you to get on with life a little bit.

The most fortunate thing I've discovered about it, is that I'm not addicted. I figured I would be addicted by now, but I could walk away easily. For example, when I got that "Forbidden" server thing, I felt peace. If this ends, I'm okay with it. In fact, one of the good things about this message is that I have to wrap it up. I'm starting a new project today and I have to get going.

To all the readers, commenters and the initial 3 who got me interested in blogging, (The One True b!X, the Portland Media Insider, and Jack Bog), thanks for the support and help. These frontier days on the Internet will always be a fond memory for me.