It was December of 2001. September 11^th had happened. The dot-com bust had happened. The layoffs at my company had happened. The layoffs at most of my friends’ companies had happened. The future wasn’t looking bright.

One morning, I was perusing Craigslist and noticed an ad: “Come Teach in Korea!” it beckoned. That sounded interesting. After graduating, I had taught for seven years – in NC, in Kuwait, in Egypt, in CA, but never in Asia. It would be an adventure. If nothing else, it was a way to sit out the depression for a year. To have something to focus on, to create a life somewhere else where there seemed to be possibilities.

I applied, I interviewed, I received an offer, I accepted.  A week later I was packing my belongings in anticipation of being away from the Bay Area for a year.

As I was preparing to leave, my good friend Bryan said, “Hey. We made you a going away present.” He took me over to his computer and showed me a blog that he had set up for me.  “This way you can write about all the stories that will happen to you.” My response was less than enthusiastic. “Really? No one cares about what I have to write about. But thanks. It’s cute.”

And almost ten years later, LoriLoo is still here. There have definitely been times when I’ve been more prolific than others, and I’m struggling to get back into the habit of writing daily. Why? Because in the process of starting this blog ten years ago, I discovered that people might care about what I’m writing about. Or they might not. And it doesn’t really matter. What matters is that I’ve discovered that I love writing. I love thinking about the words that I choose, the manner in which I’ll construct a sentence. I love thinking about ideas from different perspectives and trying out different voices. I love sharing experiences and I love reading about others’. Which is why I’m still blogging.