Throwback: Life's Winding Roads
Former... Aspiring... Published... Author? It's Complicated
Author’s Note: This article originally published on April 25th, 2025 on Medium.com
My relationship with writing is—well—complicated. Over a decade ago, I was a fairly prolific (and equally obscure) religious writer.
My writing journey began as a daily blog where I shared insights from the Bible that I was reading during my devotions. At one point, I committed myself to writing one million words in a single year. As a budding college student, word count was an extremely important metric to me—however meaningless it may have been to everyone else.
After surpassing that million-word mark and self-publishing a handful of those articles, I set out to write an actual book. I completed the manuscript for a theological work and then spent a year navigating the arduous process of trying to get it traditionally published.
After a string of non-responses and two formal rejection letters, I paid a publisher to self-publish the book. In total, it was an exhausting two-year process that left me burned out—both with the subject matter and with writing itself.
Life has its ebbs and flows. People change as their circumstances change. Unique experiences mold us, shape us, and sometimes crush our ideas about what matters most—bringing other things into sharper focus.
For me, my family grew. We had one child. Then another. Then a third. New priorities were thrust to the forefront as old passions quietly faded into the background. My chosen career path—something I once felt deeply called to—was no longer capable of supporting my growing family.
Religion, faith, philosophy—whatever you want to call it—wasn’t going to pay the bills.
So I left that career, and everything connected to it, behind. Writing included. I took a factory job that was stable and paid well. I collected a paycheck. I provided for my family. By 2020, as COVID protocols rolled out, I had fully settled into life as a factory worker—working nights, often 60 hours a week. I was also homeschooling my three children.
I had no semblance of physical or mental well-being.
I weighed 240 pounds—roughly 70 pounds overweight if you put any stock in BMI charts. I was on blood pressure medication and using a CPAP. Once again, life had rearranged my priorities.
Providing for my family mattered—but how long could I keep doing that in my current physical condition?
As my health declined and my skepticism of the medical system grew, my focus shifted toward personal health. For the past few years, I’ve been on a fitness journey filled with both progress and setbacks. I’m not a professional. I’m not the fastest, strongest, or most efficient.
I’m just a regular guy with a unique background, chasing better physical and mental health—and hopefully longevity.
And now, here I am.
A former… published… aspiring author? Writer? Writing my “first” article? Again?
Yeah. It’s complicated.
Somewhere along the way, the desire to write returned. The old religious niche is gone—though remnants of those early posts are still scattered across the internet. In its place, a new focus has emerged. A new passion. A new priority.
Life’s winding roads have pushed me onto a different path—one that feels strangely familiar.
At my core, I’m still a writer.
The keyboard has a few sticky keys. The monitor could use a good wipe-down. But the keys are in the same place. I remember how to do this—at least as imperfectly as I did before.
So here I am, starting this journey again—for the first time.
If you’re willing, tell me about your journey. How have life’s winding roads pushed you from one path to another? Have you been nudged toward a new—but strangely familiar—focus or passion?
I’d love to hear your story, even if it is… Uncredible.
Music for voice over by Jeremusic70 on Pixabay.