Release the Balloons!

Well, readers, we have finally done it. We have reached blog #100.

Of course, by "we" I mean, I slaved over hundreds of thousands of words in 100 days worth of ill-conceived diatribes and you logged in every other week to pretend to read them. I feel like we have a good thing going here. The reason I wanted to acknowledge my 100th post (other than to begin by alienating all my loyal readers), was to simply take a moment to remark on where I've been, where I currently am and where I will be. But I promise it won't be as lame as that previous sentence.

When I started this thing, my only goal was to write, write, write, write and write some more. To be perfectly honest, I didn't care so much about getting my opinions out there, being eloquent or trying to influence any type of policy or even be remotely intriguing or entertaining. 

Mission accomplished.

The Collective(ly) Unconscious has, at the very least, been what I wanted to be: a medium where I can force myself to write on a regular basis. I have always held a not-so-secret desire to be a writer and felt like I had an aptitude for the art. The main thing I lacked was motivation. Every journal I attempted to begin in my life ended after about a week's worth of entries and every book or movie script I ever attempted to undertake never made it past the initial idea. I was painfully lazy wanting to go into an industry where lazy people are quickly swallowed whole and never heard from again.

Then in my Journalism 101 class, my professor, Bob Stewart, gave us all some sage advice. "Start a blog." It seemed so simple and it really was. I had considered starting a regular blog before but was always scared away by (what else) the workload. Some part of me must have known, however, that if I wanted to be a writer, I should probably, you know, WRITE. So Bob Stewart's words clicked somewhere in my tiny brain and I began my meager little blog.

I can talk about my maturation process as a writer, or can talk about how I feel about the quality of the blog, but I don't think now is really the time for that and I am not the one to judge it. There are some entries I am very proud of, and there are other entries that I feel I made painfully obvious I didn't really care about that particular day. But in the end, I now stand at 100 posts, and as far as I am concerned that is a success.

My opportunities and workload today, however, are much different than when I started my little corner of the Internet. Back on September 11th, 2008, I was brand new on campus and was still a "free agent." I mean to say, I hadn't committed my time or energy to any campus activities, clubs or organizations. That couldn't be any more different now. For the time being, I write for Bobcatblogs (hence the little link to the right), am a member of the OU chapter of Society of Professional Journalists and maintain another weekly blog at Bojays.blogspot.com. 

Then there's Backdrop Magazine. To the casual reader, it may not even seem like I am affiliate with Backdrop. Sure, I have their Facebook group as a link on my Blog but I have never really spoken of them and nothing I have written has been featured in their magazine. Perception is quite different from the reality though. I am getting a stronger and stronger feeling everyday that Backdrop is going to be the backbone of my college writing experience. I originally started this blog so that I would have something to write everyday and could continue to be productive even if The Post or Athens News or ACRN or whatever I chose to involve myself in didn't pan out. But Backdrop seems to be that medium I have been looking for to prove myself in and to write for. Their actual website will be launching in a little under a month now and when it does I will have a regular weekly "blog-type" feature on it that I do not want to spoil right now and will have another 800-1000 word story featured on it that I wrote last fall. In addition to the website, there is also a fairly strong chance that the story I am working on now will make the spring edition of the Magazine. Fingers crossed!

So things are far different for me now than when I started all these shenanigans. But I am grateful for this blog and the constant it has been for me since I entered campus as a young, inexperienced pup. I truly appreciate everyone who has taken the time to read my long-winded rants and I thank you all for your feedback. The Collective(ly) Unconscious has been everything I could have hoped for up to this point and I look forward to many more posts in the future. Things may change format and content-wise in the near and distant future for this blog, but I will try to maintain the original spirit in which I started it. 

Again, reader, thank you and I hope to hear from you come Wednesday for post #101 and the return to business as usual.