I’m sure y’all will understand if I let myself coast more often rather than frantically pedaling all the time. – “Thirteenth Anniversary”
Every year for my anniversary column, I tend to have a lot of thinky thoughts about this massive edifice of words I’ve built (5115 daily columns including this one, plus 107 pages and innumerable tweets); I ruminate on what I’ve accomplished directly and on the other writers and speakers I’ve inspired, who have spread out from this massive boulder I’ve pushed into the interpond like ever-widening ripples. I’ve written about the rise and fall of “sex trafficking” hysteria and the other excuses used to persecute uppity strumpets like myself, and in recent years have turned to explaining why I don’t write quite as many new essays as I once did:
…even if thirteen years isn’t that much in the big scheme of things, every year counts double when you’re burning your candle at both ends. And even though older folks like me tend to think of 13 years as not an especially long stretch, consider the difference between 1910 and 1923 (or between 1933 and 1946, or 1953 to 1966, or 1990 to 2003); the world and the culture have changed quite a bit since I started this project, and in a world of YouTube and TikTok blogs are beginning to look as quaint as radio shows did in 1959.
But even though I’ve used these essays to explain my reasons to you and justify them to myself, I’m only just beginning to internalize that yes, it really is okay to keep slowing down, rather than just saying it aloud but not really believing it. So this year I’m going to do something bold (for me, that is): I daresay most people do not celebrate anniversaries by giving themselves extra work, but of course that’s what I’ve always done. So this year I’m just popping in to remind y’all of the occasion, to thank y’all for fourteen years of unflagging support, and to let y’all know that I’m planning to mostly take the rest of the day off. Or at least as much of it as my hyperactive brain will let me.
Congratulations on 14 years of hard work. I’ve enjoyed getting to know you.