A Bit of New-Year Self Reflection

Ah, the world was my oyster in 1974. I had hair, a cool car and nothing but optimism.

I'm not the kind of guy who gives much thought to “what if.” Maybe that's why I haven't written the great American novel. Every novel sets sail in the writer's mind as a what if.

Nope, I don't waste time mentally thumbing through the archives of my life wondering, what if. I got myself here and that's all that really matters. At times it wasn't particularly pretty, but there isn't a whole lot I would change. Had I thought I would live this long, I might have made a different choice or two along the way, but I have few regrets. It's been a good run, and Lord willing, it ain't over yet.

Twelve months ago, I thought I would be focused this year on selling my house. However, my career (Referring to how I make money as a “career” always makes me smile.) took a turn for the better last year. Now I'm able to think of the work I'm doing on my house as remodeling, as opposed to getting it ready to sell. That takes a bit of the pressure off.

For the past decade or two, I haven't considered the New Year as a fresh start. One year has been pretty much the same as the last and the one to follow. It was about the time I reached the point in my life that I was not longer chasing – or kidding myself that I was chasing – the typical things in life most younger people pursue: family, upward mobility and so forth that I simply relaxed and tried to enjoy the ride.

Sure, there were years that I struggled to keep away the wolves. During those times I just kept my head down and plugged away. A few friends provided a hand up, and I survived to fight another day. 

When I began at the Boca Raton News in the mid 1980s, I had no idea it would lead to Sebring and the 1991 Dodge Viper.

The past few years have been a challenge. My industry has all but disappeared. Newspapers and magazines are relics in today's digital world. That I've managed to somehow bridge the gap between print and digital is more serendipity than a testament to any skill of mine. I guess you can attribute my continued association with Autotrader to some combination of talent and personal relationships, but that gig took seed from a conversation during a limo ride from an airport to some carmaker media event. It was pure happenstance; luck, if you will.

I have not adapted well to today's many forms of social media. Beyond Facebook, I'm a digital hack. I can lay some claim to using Instagram and Twitter because when I post a photo on Instagram, I can share it on Twitter and Facebook at the same time. Otherwise, I'd never post on Instagram nor Twitter. When I was with family over Christmas, one of my grand nieces set me up on Snapchat. I have yet to post anything and only sporadically do I think to check on what my handful of Snapchat friends (mostly family) have posted. Although I've been on Facebook for five-or-so years, I don't even check it daily.

Over the last year, I have revitalized my creative juices with just3things. I'm having fun doing it. Will it actually grow into something? I have not a clue, but I intend to continue adding to the content of just3thingsvideo.com. When the video count reaches 100, I'll invest some money into promoting it. Then we'll see what happens.

I have allowed GreenvilleInsider.com to molder. I haven't even been on the site in three or four months. I haven't updated anything nor added any content in at least that long. I knew when I launched it, I would have trouble keeping up with it. When I wasn't busy making money, I had more time and energy to devote to it. Now, not so much. I'll keep the domain name and continue paying the annual fee to the site host, just in case I want to relaunch it someday; but I don't see myself doing anything with it this year.

In the meantime, I'm going to get cranked up again doing car reviews for Cardata.com. I'm sure my editor there will be glad to hear that. He continues bugging me about diving back in. Otherwise, I will just keep on keeping on.