MadeByMark.com went on the air on November 1, 2000 — long before most people had ever heard the word blog. (In fact, that was before even I had heard the word. I just called it “my website.”) The eighth anniversary of my little online experiment is fast approaching.
Earlier this week, celebrating an anniversary of its own, Google launched a version of its search page that limits itself to entries available on the web in 2001. MadeByMark.com is in there.
So I climbed into the Internet time machine, went back to 2001, and read a page of my own writing from seven years ago. Some observations:
– Just last night, I was toying with the idea of redesigning MadeByMark with a minimalist theme — black text, white pages, the occasional color photo. I was genuinely surprised to see that I had already done that, pretty much, back in 2001. Everything old is new again, I suppose. Lesson learned: spend more time writing, and less time thinking about the container for the writing.
– I loved the entries. In fact, I liked them better than any entries I’ve written here lately. They were more personal, more magical, and, in my opinion, they offered more of what only I can offer: my world, as seen through my own personal point of view. I tell myself I write less often and write more sloppily because I have a full-time job these days … but these early entries were crafted when I had a full-time job at SkyTel, when I was writing a novel (in 30 days, no less), and when I was cranking out my first books on Tarot for Llewellyn. Lesson learned: I’m a writer. I need to make writing more of a priority in my life.
– I really like — and I’m surprised that I like — the way I used to post several little entries at once, separated by a line of asterisks (****). Some posts are like little boxes of literary candy — a bit of this, a bit of that, somehow all related. I’m not even sure I can still do this. Lesson learned: just because everyone else is writing discreet, search engine friendly entries doesn’t mean I have to.
Today, faithful reader, you should try this exercise, too. Where were you seven years ago today? Where were you working? Where were you living? What was your partnership like? What did you do, back that, that made you enormously happy? Are you doing more — or less — of that today?
The results may surprise you.
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