It's Only Been a Year?

Photo by Wout Vanacker on Unsplash

Today is the first anniversary of Ring Around the Basin! It's been quite a ride with lots of twists, turns and questions as well as lots of thank you's to my readers, especially Tonya Morton of Juke who set up my account. It's been a lively year of writing new pieces, editing and posting old ones, and getting to know a lot of fine writers and artists.

On March 31, 2023, Ring Around the Basin launched with Jellyfish, a little story about visiting a beach in Santa Cruz, CA with my aging father. From then on, I posted every Monday and Thursday.

This schedule worked well until something struck me with such excitement, I had to add Saturday Special. Stories about seeing sunflowers planted along Interstate 80 or the real significance of Over the Rainbow found homes there. Then I serialized my unpublished novel, Silent Keys. That experiment proved valuable, but not in a good way.

One of my readers turned out to be my ninth grade teacher. I had given her a novelette written during summer vacation to read.  Her mentorship directed me toward writing as a career. Decades later, we found each other on Facebook.

Alas, her reaction to Silent Keys prompted her to unsubscribe because she didn't enjoy reading such material. It was about an elderly couple involved in a murder-suicide pact. Haven't heard from her since. No one else offered an opinion of the novel, but having her leave Ring threw me into a funk.

Okay, I surmised, I need to keep posts positive and enlightening, especially as our global society free-falls into chaos. Also, keep them short. "Rite tite".

In all, I have published 143 essays, poems, and stories, including Silent Keys. I'm rather proud of that. It's gratifying to see how much I produced this year. It's also a big surprise that yesterday, March 30, Substack congratulated Ring Around the Basin for attaining 100 subscribers.

Before reaching that mark, I thought my subscriptions were rather sparse. Others had garnered hundreds more in a similar amount of time and I truly wondered what I was doing wrong. Also, my paid subscriptions remained with the original four; thus I removed the paywall from Silent Keys.

Being paid is a strong affirmation that one's time is not wasted on a foolish hobby. Writing is an arduous process that very often goes unsung and unpaid. I had to examine what I am gaining. Why continue exerting the effort for such a meager result?

First of all, I found satisfaction in writing pieces and commenting on others' newsletters. For a time in mid-winter, though, disillusionment regarding their lack of paid subscriptions poisoned my resolve to continue. Nevertheless, I valued their content and interaction, creating a conversation that spans the globe. That's a fantastic accomplishment after one year.

For me, writing is like breathing. There's a buzz after a satisfying poem or essay emerges from my pen or keyboard. It's my life-blood. If I don't write something, even an outline for a story, I get depressed. Ennui sets in. And I return to scrolling cat memes.

Charlene Storey of Haver and Sparrow recently posted an essay affirming our status as writers. Even when the publishing industry sidesteps our work, Substack gives us a platform to show off our talents and control our  destiny.  According to Charlene, no matter whether or not our products see the light in a reader's eye, we still deserve to claim the title: writer. We should never be shy about stating that fact when people ask us what we do. We've already done the work; we've earned the credential. Thank you, Charlene.

Photo by Adi Goldstein on Unsplash

Another benefit is revisiting memories and the eras when those events occurred. Things have changed so much that I hope my readers will get a perspective on their own lives through my "ancient history" tales. As time passes, more memories flood back to me. It's been a catharsis as well as a cringe-worthy trip through personal growth.

When I started Ring, I intended to draw from the original website. To my surprise, fresh ideas pop up daily, inspired by others' works, Facebook, or simply the day-to-day happenings. It's amazing how inspiration flows when observing what's going on just outside the door.

I've learned so much about my followers' struggles, triumphs, beliefs, how they cope with life's demands. Their stories not only reveal their lives more openly than physical friends would dare, they also show their cultures, their environment, and the depth of their wisdom. What's more, this community is so much kinder and more enriching than any other platform. I am thrilled to be a part of it.

Before I close, I want to thank the following whose work has enriched and delighted me this year:

Candace Rose Rardon Dandelion Seeds, painter and writer of lovely posts about her family

Fran Gardner from Becoming, writer and photographer sharing her observations and how she navigates her world despite her mobility issue,

Charlene Storey, Haver and Sparrow, audio enhanced stories about her life in the Shetland Island, 

Brent and Michael Are Going Places, nomading around the world and offering travel tips,  

Sue Clancy A.M Sketching, fanciful paintings and life-affirming quotes and poems,

Sharron Bassano's Leaves, articles about Italy and short-short fiction in 50-100 words, 

Jason McBride's Weirdo Poetry, haiku comics and group tutorials about haiku,

E. R. Flynn Escape from Clown Town, satirical comics, 

Shaun Usher Letters of Note, powerful missives between famous creators and their associates,

Conversations with Critters, hysterical dialogues between two cats and a dog,   

Erik Rittenberry, Poetry Outlaws, profound poems from the literary archive. 

Grant Snider's Incidental Comics, poems embedded in delightful comics, 

Paul Vlachos, whose biographical musings are often shared on Juke.

Again, thank you, Tonya, for sharing my posts on Juke. I will be eternally grateful for your mentorship and faith, your generosity and kindness, and for your gentle, passionate spirit.

And thank you to all my readers who have made this year the life-changing experience it has been. I look forward to your comments and posts for another year and hopefully for a long, long time to come.

If you enjoyed this article, feel free to explore other poems, stories, and essays in the Ring Around the Basin Archive. And I love to read your comments, too.