As part of getting my new website up and running, I’ve been migrating old blog posts from a previous website to this one. Some of these blog posts are 5-6 years old. I don’t necessarily agree with that version of me on things. I also don’t like the way that version of me wrote some things, and I’ve had to decide what to do with these posts.

As I’ve been putting this new website together, the schema for different content types has changed from my last website to this website. This means that blog posts now have different requirements than they did in my last blog in order to publish correctly. It’s not a big deal, I just have to make a few changes here and there and move on.

I’ve taken the opportunity though to go back through and read a lot of my old posts since I’ve needed to update media. After reading many of them, I have a strong desire to go back in and edit a lot of these old posts. I don’t like the way that I worded certain things, I even disagree with some of my previous thoughts. It’s been difficult to decide what to do with some of these old blog posts.

Ultimately, I’ve decided to leave them as is. My mind is drawn to Seth Godin’s Blog. He has been consistently blogging since January of 2002. That’s 19 years of blogging. I can’t imagine that after nearly 2 decades he still absolutely agrees with many of the things he’s written for the past 19 years. I also can’t imagine he goes back and reads and edits those posts to be sure that they do align with his current thinking.

I think having these old blog posts is evidence of evolution – evolution in thinking, writing, and approach. While I’d love to cultivate a well-written and edited collection of thoughts on particular subjects, for me having a blog means publishing thoughts in a journal format that I feel comfortable with in the moment. I get them out, and then move on.

I know that when I look back on old posts that I may cringe a little, and that I’ll find thoughts and ideas that I write today that I may not agree with in the future. I’m glad I’ve recognized an evolution, and I hope that when I do look back on old posts in the future, that I’ll recognize both an evolution and a thread of an idea that helps me to recognize my own self. It’ll be evidence that I’m changing, hopefully for the better.