1,000 Hits

There's something to be said for never giving up on a dream no matter how impossible it may seem. It gives the dull reality of day-to-day life meaning. It gives one purpose. My dream would be to write professionally, preferably for absorbent pay, but I'm not the only one. So like all the other hacks, I work when/where I can and write (for free) in the meantime. I do what I have to in order to survive but no matter what the candle of hope remains aflame.

It's not easy though. The world tends to not give a shit about any of us or our candles. Sometimes I get so frustrated I want to blow the fucker out myself. Just give up. To be totally honest I don't know what's more pathetic; the fact that I feel like I've accomplished something after a 1,000 hits or that I even started trying at all. Usually during pity parties like these I get a text, a phone call, an e-mail, a comment on a post. Some sign that it's not all for nothing. SOMEBODY isn't just reading but enjoying what I have to say. Honestly that's all it takes. A kind word can go a long way if it's genuine.

So thanks. Yes, you. The one reading this right now. To all my editors, whom I owe beers for life, thank you. To anyone who has ever read anything I've ever written; thank you. Even that teacher in college who failed me because he couldn't understand how great I was; thank you. To anyone who has even glanced at my blog by mistake ... you get the idea. In the grand scheme of things I know it doesn't mean much but it's a start. A measuring stick showing some level of interest. I'm obviously not an awful writer and if you don't suck at something you can only get better.

Right. So now that I've buttered you all up I only ask for one thing in return for all my efforts. The current shameless self promotion wherever I go has helped but any additional support and assistance is huge. Please recommend my blog to any and everyone who might like it. Better still, recommend it to someone who might get me one step closer to being published. At this point I don't care how or where, as long as I can use it as a clip (Blogspot doesn't seem to count). Who knows maybe one day, after I hit the big time, we can all say remember way back when? When it was just a 1,000 hits.


-J.R.