I just realized that I forgot an anniversary. My first blog post was written on October 2, 2001, so this blog turned three years old on Saturday.
That strikes me as significant, for reasons that require a bit of explanation. Over the years, I have learned that I have a tendency to get interested in a new activity, pursue it enthusiastically for a while, and then lose interest and abandon it. Sometimes I actually experience a loss of motivation; sometimes I take a break from the activity and just never get around to resuming it. In a couple of cases I’ve decided that the activity is just too expensive and I can’t afford it.
The reasons vary, but I’ve noticed a fairly consistent pattern: if a new interest of mine is going to run out of steam in this way, it’s most likely to do so after about two years. That appears to be the point at which my initial enthusiasm flags and, if I haven’t made a genuine long-term commitment, I just don’t feel like pursuing the activity any more. So if a new activity of mine survives past the critical two-year mark, that suggests that I’m not going to lose interest in it. There have been exceptions, but this seems to be the general rule.
Well, I’ve now been blogging for three years. Does that mean I’m likely to keep it up for a lot longer? I hope so.
UPDATE: If anyone is wondering, my involvement as a volunteer at Raleigh Little Theatre passed the two-year mark three months ago. My family and I first signed up as volunteers at the Backstage Night open house on July 8, 2002.
And as long as I’m observing anniversaries, I should point out Sputnik 1 was launched 47 years ago today — a fact commemorated by today’s X-Prize-winning flight of SpaceShipOne.