I've always loved to read and write.
One of my sisters helped me get started before I was in elementary school. Of all the things I learned from school (K-12, Bachelor's program, PhD program), self-teaching, life lessons, good advice, etc., literacy has opened more doors for me than any other. So it is very strange that for the past eight and a half years I've written so little other than for work-related things, corresponding to a new job I've had during that time. But that was not the sole cause, as I had already started struggling with writing a few years before. Eventually this spread to reading for fun (especially fiction) as well.
My writing got a boost on January 9, 2018. That's when I started keeping a private journal. It has kept me (mostly) sane, or as sane as I've ever been. I always need some outlet for personal writing I guess, but there wasn't much I felt like writing about to put out there to anyone who happened by this page. My inspiration has been very lacking.
Now it is 2025, and in the United States there is internal turmoil as a combination of wannabe authoritarians, billionaires, people angry or disillusioned with the American political system, bigots, Christian Nationalists, some people who feel left behind by the economy, some who feel the times are passing them by, some single-issue voters, and even outright fascists have supported and voted in a Congress and a President that have, so far, demonstrated little regard for the Constitution or the rule of law. Regardless political affiliation, people who aren't extremely rich face a great deal of uncertainty about their future. Where is the nation going? What issues can unite enough citizens to work together for a better nation and a better world? Is that even possible?
