The purpose of writing
Image by PublicDomainPictures from Pixabay
This is the 140th week that I publish a blog post and I have finally figured out why I am doing it. I had no clue when I started what the purpose was, but I always knew it would come to me eventually. That, and the fact that I have become a better writer compared to three years ago, which is a useful skill no matter how you look at it. I am writing these blog posts to my kids. It is a one-way communication from my past self to them when they (perhaps) read this in a couple of decades from now. By summarizing the most important ideas I have been thinking about the past week, every Monday evening, the project has now become a journey. And a kind of time-machine, which now makes it 10X more enjoyable.
I know that if my father would have written pieces like this when I was a little kid, I would definitely want to read them by now. Wouldn’t it be fascinating if my own kids read this when they are in a similar position to me, building a family, and perhaps learn something? Or just have a laugh about it. The better part of my past three years is now summarized in about 140 pages, which can easily be finished in a couple of sittings. They can get to know the 2022 version of Rikard, because if I am still around in 20-30 years or so, I will be very different to know. Hopefully a lot wiser. And if I am not around any longer, they can still get to know me better.
One important factor that I need to solve is to store the documents in a proper way, which is always a challenge. To keep it as a fancy blog website as I do now is a very dangerous move. As soon as I stop paying the invoices, all these posts will be gone instantly. Forever. I suppose that the best way to store it is probably in print. Unless a fire destroys the manuscripts, they can easily last a couple of generations. And by then, in a hundred years or so, nobody will have a clue who I was anyway. So, the target is to store it for at least three generations ahead. I start out by writing the blog posts in Word, then I upload them to the blog site (Squarespace), but I often find some last-minute minor changes before I press the publish button. Which means the Word documents are only 99% correct. From now on I realize that this is a bad idea. I need to get it right in the manuscript, because these files are stored locally (with multiple backups of course) and independent on me paying the invoices to the blog site.
The next step must be to figure out a good way to get these posts in print. The obvious choice would be to just set my HP printer to work and call it a day. But there is always at least one picture attached to each post, and that would eat up the ink cartridges in no time. A better choice is perhaps to hire a professional printing company and produce a simple little 52-page book? One book per year. Preferably with more than one copy and place them in separate locations. That should solve the longevity problem. The problem is similar to digital photography. We often take hundreds or thousands of pictures, but we rarely organize them and consequently, never look at them. A much better idea is to create a photo book, in the same spirit as photo albums of yesteryear. The photo books create much more joy, I have found.
Anyway, now it’s time for bed. Elis and Isak, if you read this a couple of decades from now => Mission accomplished. I hope you have learned something. It was an honor to be your dad and these years have been the best of my life, by far. Thank you. I love you.