It’s difficult to believe I’ve been writing on Tumblr for a whole year. There are two distinct reasons for this, and both have to do with the distortion of time, or at least a mortal human’s perception thereof. Sometimes it feels like I’ve been writing on Tumblr for like a decade — because Tumblr, much like the rest of the internet, throws so much information at you that it feels like something said two days ago happened three weeks prior. And then other times, it feels like I’ve been on Tumblr for just a few months — perhaps because of that old aphorism that “time flies when you’re having fun.” And I have, indeed, had fun here.

I was never afraid to post writing here for “strangers” to read — mostly because I didn’t actually think anyone would read it. But I’ve always had confidence in my writing, and I’ve always believed in myself as a writer. I’ve remarked on more than one occasion that it is the only thing I’m truly good at. Now, that’s not true — I’m good at a few other things — but I suppose that’s my version of low self-esteem. But I’ve never felt the need to hide my writing; on the contrary, I’ve always been eager to share it with anyone who would read it. I just didn’t think anyone would.

So I was shocked when random people I didn’t know started hitting the heart on my work — some of them even started following me, and a few of them sent notes to my ask box. I was amazed and overjoyed. At first, I dutifully followed every single person who hit the heart on anything I posted — and quite a few of them followed me back as well. Of course, I also automatically followed back every single person who followed me. I didn’t even look at their blogs before I followed them, so ecstatic was I that they’d decided my work belonged on their dash.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. Today, in the spirit of nostalgia and personal whim, I undertook a bit of forensic analysis to uncover who my first ten followers were. Ten is a significant number, I guess, because it’s a round number, and it has two digits, despite the fact one of them is a zero. So off I dug to the first page of my follower list, and, using the highly scientific method of comparing and contrasting the first people listed amongst my followers with the notes on my first 20 posts or so, I have arrived at a list of ten people I believe with a reasonable degree of statistical certainty to have been my first ten followers. What didn’t surprise me when I arrived at this list was that all ten of these people are people I consider friends. When you know someone for a year, friendships tend to happen. These ten people made me feel welcome on Tumblr, showed me the ropes, warned me against various dash-spamming, obnoxious, or otherwise unreasonable activities, and generally made me feel at home. So Dennis, Luke, Nicole, Lilly, Peaches, Danny, Mike, Solange, David, and Bill — thank you. You’ve been with me from the beginning, and this place wouldn’t be the same for me without y’all.

As I said, a year can seem at the same time like a short time and like eons. A lot can happen in a year, and a lot has happened to me — both in life, and on Tumblr. I’ve made a lot of friends. I’ve made a few “enemies”. I’ve turned a few “enemies” into friends. I’ve turned a few friends into “enemies”. I’ve been angry, happy, hurt, frustrated, confused,  empathetic, horrified, ecstatic, and proud. I’ve been drunk and I’ve been sober. I’ve acquired a few close friends I wouldn’t have known existed but for Tumblr. I’ve even met a few of them.

On May 13th, 2011, I never imagined I’d be sitting here today writing this, a mason jar of it’s-not-really-champagne-because-it’s-not-from-the-champagne-region-of-france sitting at the left-hand side of my computer, celebrating the one year anniversary of this little blog. But a lot can happen in a year. In just one year, I’ve followed over 800 blogs, and read the words of countless others. I’ve posted over 2,000 pieces of my own. I’ve hearted over 14,000 of yours. Nearly 100 of you have bought a book of my writing, and many of you have shared that book with others off-Tumblr. I began this journey amazed and humbled that even a handful of people wanted to read my work on a regular basis — and now, a year later, I’m even more amazed and humbled that I’ll be sharing this next year with over 13,000 of you. Like I said, a lot can happen in a year.