One year ago today, I took the plunge. Twice a week, I was going to post a blog about writing, filmmaking, photography and life and everyone in the world would read it a love me and shower me with praise for my astute observations and witty asides. It almost turned out that way. This blog hasn’t made me famous, but the fact that I’m still coming back after 365 days and 71 posts is cause for celebration.

Blogging consistently for a year has taught me a lot — about the craft of writing and about myself. In a world where so much changes so quickly, this has been my touchstone. No matter what happened in a given week, I would at least attempt to write something meaningful. I didn’t always get it done. Sometimes a week or even two would go by between posts. Other times, I couldn’t shut off the urge and I’d fire off a post a day for three days in a row.

What started off as a professional endeavor meant to boost my readership with keen insights into the storytelling process has evolved and grown organically. I still write about writing, but the blog has become more and more a public diary; a mirror held up to my chaotic life. Someone once said that all writing is autobiography. They were right.

As someone who creates, I thrive on feedback. If it weren’t for the comments and criticisms (and one Freshly Pressed post), I probably would’ve lost interest. It’s nice to know that you’re not writing in a vacuum and that people actually enjoy what you do. On those days when the last thing I wanted to do was write, the thought of letting down my moderately loyal readership (ie. my mom) forced me back to the keyboard. No celebration of this milestone would be complete without thanking my readers. You rock and you know it.

Here’s to a phenomenal year and many more years of blogging to come. Prost!

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I’ve been blogging for a year! Time to break open the bubbly and follow my Twitter feed: @jonnyeberle. See what I did there?