I finally did it. I kept up with my writing and this blog for a year. And then, I left my job to pursue what I’ve always wanted.

Today marks the one-year anniversary of this blog, and the account that established a platform for my thoughts on literature, language, meaning, and the culture and impact on everything we are made of.

Last August, on the 5th to be exact, I sat down for lunch with my parents, my younger brother and my partner, the three people who have heard me discuss my dreams of being a  journalist and literary critic out loud for the last 20 years. “I think I’m going to start a blog,” were the only words I needed to utter for their forks to drop and for their gaze to raise. Just enough to meet mine. I didn’t know who to make eye contact with. But I knew they were waiting for me to stop pursuing a career that I was using to excuse the lack of trying. As anyone would be, I was afraid of really trying and liked living in the shadows of potential. My life no longer told the story I was dying to explain over a glass of wine after meeting long-lost friends who always brought the dreaded question: “So… have you made the jump?”

I knew that living within my classroom would stop any exposure that would aid in building connections and introducing myself as I had hoped to one day. One day was a beautiful, glorious date marked on a calendar that never existed. It was relieving to know it was somewhere within the future, and I trusted I would become some muffled version of myself that would do it. The date became blurry and I, in the present moment, came into focus. It was clear that I was ready. I had built the confidence without needing it, the skills without needing validation, and the character I thought of ‘too strong’ to discard. 

We cleared the table, washed the dishes, and lowered the blinds as we did past 2 pm to keep the house from warming up. I knew I had two hours before our afternoon activities kicked off, and I merely needed to find a name and establish my domain. 

The last time I had used WordPress was in 2011. After signing up for Blogging Club in middle school, my lifestyle and advice blog taught me enough to carry it out then, but it had nothing to do with what I wanted in my 20s. I wanted a digital portfolio, something to grab onto. Something that would pull me out of the life I had invested so much time in: teaching.

I posted my About Me page. Within seconds, a subscriber. The notifications came rolling in, and the comments welcomed me into something better than a portfolio could have ever been. I wanted to blog. I wanted to write about literary criticism, discuss the experience of reading and writing, and bring an honest lens into the very thoughts that I couldn’t help but focus on every single workday. 

The first five weeks were unbelievably positive. By the time I had returned to my classroom and prepared it for another school year, I had to prioritize my occupation. One that I simply adored, until my students asked “Miss Angela, what do YOU want to be when you grow up?” I chuckled and found the idea that I simply lived at the school was endearing. I embodied the job and never talked about dreams outside of our small, shared and secondary home.

“Well, I always wanted to be a teacher and a journalist.”

“But to be a journalist, you wouldn’t be here anymore,” my oldest said, with a face of realization. One she didn’t seem to like. 

“I would wait until you’re all out of the door and on your way to your next chapter.”

And that’s exactly what I did. We graduated together that summer, and went off to bigger things. Myself included this time.

I am still transitioning from my old role to my dream title, but this space has granted me more momentum and foundational support than I could have ever imagined.

The milestones came in quickly, then came to a halt, and picked up again when I started pouring into it in between jobs, and after the day was unofficially over. 

I’m now into the second year, and I hope to share the writing that I’ll pitch, the events I attend, and the interviews I’ll be fortunate enough to have. Most importantly, I hope to continue writing about everything that moves me, shocks you, and interests us both.

We’re transitioning into a period where the written word stands accused and is put on trial, and print media is taken as a resource to feed the machine. In this era, I don’t regret holding onto what we valued years ago. The resurgence of attention towards reading and writing is something to hold on to in faith, and aspirations. Thank you for reading, and for creating on a wonderful platform. To another year.

Ángela is a literary critic, feature writer, cultural journalist, and blogger. Through In Between the Lines, she explores literature, language, and culture through essays, criticism, and long-form features.