The Last Word On Nothing

I don’t expect anyone to notice, but I’ve been on hiatus from Last Word On Nothing while I focused my attention on writing a book. With the book finished, I’ve decided it’s time to start blogging here again.

My return wasn’t a given. Time away from LWON was an opportunity to contemplate whether I should continue. I wrote about why I blog back in 2012, and as I’ve considered when (and whether) to return, I’ve revisited my rationale for writing here. 

It turns out, those original reasons stand the test of time remarkably well. They also feel like an explanation of why I’ve missed blogging. 

First and foremost, LWON provides me a creative practice. When it’s my turn on the schedule, I have a deadline and an impetus to produce something. That obligation to write can feel like a pain in the ass at times, but more often than not, it’s a welcome invitation to commit to the creative process. Sometimes what I need to write isn’t more time, but a hard and fast deadline (2am in my time zone on the day a post goes live).

I’ve also come to appreciate how LWON gives me an outlet for expressing what’s on my mind. Sure, our official motto is, ”Science says the first word on everything, and the last word on nothing” (Victor Hugo) but our unofficial motto is, “we write about whatever the &*%#$ we want to.” Now that I’ve gone more than a year without a place to vent, spitball and hold forth, the necessity of this creative outlet has become more clear than ever. I’ve come to appreciate having a home where I can speak my voice. Sometimes I need to write about something to figure out what I really think, and I love how LWON gives me a place to do that without bowing to anyone else’s demands. 

I’ve been contemplating a return to LWON for a several  months now. What made me finally put myself back on the schedule was a moment from this past week. I was visiting with fellow LaWONian Craig Childs at a poetry reading of a mutual friend, the poet Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer. (One thing I’ve certainly missed about LWON is being an active part of this community of smart, creative people.) Craig told me that he was about to head home to write his post for the next morning. Instead of feeling relieved that I wasn’t the one on the hook for a post that night, I felt a twinge of nostalgia. I remembered what it was like to see the clock strike 10pm and know that I had only a few hours to get something lined up for publication. I realized that I missed that feeling. I suddenly yearned for it.

I realize that blogging isn’t the trendy thing it once was, but I still love this blog and feel a sense of home here. I’m grateful for this place where I can take chances and share unpolished prose. During my time away, I’ve also come to cherish our devoted LWON readers. I have never tracked clicks or page views here, but what I know is that our readers are genuine and generally warm-hearted — no small thing in this polarized age. To those of you who’ve read this far, I have two words: thank you.

image by Frank Hemme