Well, it’s been a while since I’ve written anything for The Titanium Spine. My last entry came in on July 8, so it’s been over six months. There’s been a lot going on, both with me and everything else happening in the country and across the world.
When I started this site back in 2017, my life was remarkably different. I had a drive to prove myself worthy of being a good writer, to prove that I still had more left to give as a member of society. This isn’t easy when you’re disabled and in chronic pain on a daily basis. I still longed to be productive, to be able to contribute. So I cranked out baseball articles and put my best foot forward – for more than three years. And I promoted them as best as I could on Twitter and Facebook.
In 2020, COVID happened and everything shut down. I tried to get content out there, to keep myself busy as well as putting stuff out there for readers. I wanted to get stuff out there to help prospective readers have something to keep themselves busy, if even for a few minutes.
Last February, I was looking at my site’s statistics when it came time to renew my WordPress plan. Did I want to spend another 200-plus dollars and hope I could get enough eyes on The Titanium Spine to warrant spending this amount? I decided I would do it for one more year and hope more people would see my work.
I always told myself I was writing for my own therapy, and if others enjoyed my work then all the better. However, it does get depressing when you realize people just aren’t seeing your material. Trying to get views on Twitter is next to impossible, especially when you don’t have a lot of followers or friends who are willing to help you get your stuff out there. Add to that, there are hundreds (or thousands?) of other writers out there who are trying to do the same thing, creating a well over-saturated market. I don’t plan on renewing WordPress going forward, and when the time comes, the site will eventually go dark. And I’m ok with it.
Late last summer, I just kind of stopped trying and just went back to being a fan. I had other things going on as well. My mother, who I spent three years being a caregiver for, had passed. I had my own battle of COVID in September. After I recovered, I decided I needed to do something else. I began volunteering at Rochester & Genesee Valley Railroad Museum and found I really enjoyed it. This will be something I will continue doing.
These last few years weren’t wasted time, not at all. I was working on slowly regaining my health, losing 50 pounds and getting into better shape. Keeping busy, eating better and increasing movement is paying dividends. I’m proud to say I am going back to work after almost ten years. I am starting training in a few days to regain my Class B CDL and plan to go back to driving school buses. It’s a job I loved when I was doing it prior to my health issues that forced me onto disability.
It’s been a very rough ten years, because I loved being productive. Idle time is horrible for me and I had too much of it. But it made me stronger! I am so happy to be going back to work and I’m never going to look back. But I want to give heartfelt thanks for those who have always read my work, that is why I am writing this entry today. I’m so grateful! 💙⚾
The Titanium Spine 