My blog is TEN years old! Can you believe it? I began this project as a quiet way to document the life-changing insights I was having about a year into my taekwondo journey. I didn’t tell anyone about it for a few months. Since then it has grown to be a documentation of my journey to black belt and beyond, the inspiration for my 2021 book Kicking and Screaming: a Memoir of Madness and Martial Arts, and home to many guest articles from the larger martial arts world. The blog and the book have pushed me into talking openly about mental illness in the public space, which I’ve done on podcasts, in articles, and even in my workplace.
Thank you to everyone who took the time to read my thoughts and to the other writers and martial artists who have contributed richness and diversity to the blog.
I usually list my top favorite articles of the past year on my anniversary post, but this time I’ll list my favorite post for every YEAR this blog has been in existence. It was fun to take a deep dive into the blog and revisit the ups and downs and growth experiences I’ve had over the last decade.
Enjoy, and please celebrate with me…
2014: The Big Bang of Little Black Belt – Why I started this blog.
2015: Final Color Belt Test: Savoring the Moment – An end marked a new beginning. My bo dan test might still be my favorite belt test ever.
2016: Love is Like Grape Soda: Being Happily Single on Valentine’s Day – One of my all-time favorite posts. Even though I’m no longer single I’ve matured enough to have a healthy sense of self and a detachment from needing validation from a relationship. Taekwondo helped me get there.
2017: You Are Who You’ve Been Waiting For – A statement at a work event was a good reminder to be thankful for the times I’ve “shown up” for myself and to trust myself to move forward in life.
2018: The Motto That Keeps Me Motivated (and Annoyed) – This was the year I cried more than once before going to taekwondo class and smoked a cigarette every Friday (JUST ONE, MOM!) because my job was stressing me out so much. It was hard to keep going. A martial arts mantra kept me from completely losing my mind. While the job stress took a few more years to work itself out, by the end of 2018 I was at a new dojang that was positive and fun. I’m still there today. I haven’t quit (other than smoking).
2019: When to Stop Competing Against Yourself – A gentle reminder from my gentle-natured late guitar teacher. This wasn’t originally my top choice for 2019, but it’s the only one that made me nearly cry.
2020: The Surprisingly Therapeutic Aspect of Watching the Cobra-Kai Series – When Season 2 of Cobra-Kai debuted I was in the thick of recovering from knee surgery, we were ALL in the thick of the coronavirus pandemic, and my family was in the thick of a crisis moment. Watching the show helped me get through a weekend filled with fear and the unknown.
2021: How to Feel Unstuck When There’s No End in Sight – 2021 was a rough year for me, physically, mentally, and professionally. I prayed daily for a deus ex machina but also realized the only thing that could save my sanity was me. I offer some tips on how to feel unstuck when you are absolutely mired in the stickiness. A few years later I can look back on this post and smile knowing that I came out on the other side.
2022: Are You in a Martial Arts Cult? – I have to list this guest article I wrote for Martial Journal as as the top post of 2022 because I still get emails from readers about it. This is a situation no one is talking about, but it obviously needs some attention.
2023: The Person Who Inspired Me to Persevere – A concert by my favorite rapper Prof in late 2022 helped kick-start me out of a two-year long depression. By the end of 2023 I had started doing something new at work that I enjoyed and finished the first draft of my first novel.
2024: Yes, Your Martial Art Can Just be a Hobby – After all this, ALL THIS, it’s totally okay to just do your martial art for fun. That’s what I do. If it stops being fun, that’s a problem.
