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I recently looked through my posts and realized that it's actually been a whole year since I started blogging on Coil! Actually, technically, it's been a year and a month or so. Time, along with how crazy 2020 has been, has flown by as I've had a great time on Coil blogging and enjoying some compensation through its new way of looking at web monetization.

So in the spirit of anniversaries and celebration, this small post will take a small look back at my time on Coil so far, and I'll also talk a little bit about what I'm planning going into the future.

A Year in Review

On June 28, 2019 (wow, that seems like an age ago!) I started a weekly blog talking about becoming your own bank. With that first post, I started a series of posts talking about what I've learned in my own life about taking control of our own finances, re-thinking what money actually is, and the various assets and services almost anyone can use to be able to take better control over their own life. In a way, I was trying to model what Chef Gusteau said in Pixar's Ratatouille, which was basically, “Anyone can cook.” Or rather, in the case of my first series, “Anyone can do finances well.”

In that series, I have a few posts that I really believe are a couple of the best posts that really help flesh out what I think re-capturing our own independence in finances is about, and why it's important. The first is called Inflation, which basically goes over what inflation is and how it affects all of us. The second is called Rethinking Money, in which I go over the main concepts of money and wealth. And the third I'm most proud of is a post called Putting Money to Work, in which I discuss the crucial way banks function, and how individuals can do nearly the same thing today.

When I finished the series, I began to branch out in what I wrote about, and went in lots of different directions. I talked about ways I thought Coil could improve. I began “A Study In” series, in which I wrote about various things that inspire me, from stories to video games. I even outlined my development of my own board game called Of Duchies and Polities! I was still developing that game when the coronavirus shutdown hit where I live, and I couldn't beta-test it anymore (seeing as how I wasn't allowed to go out and meet with people!). But, for those who are still interested in playing the game, I'm still developing it (and super excited about it!), and you can download, print, and play it yourself if you're a Coil subscriber!\

Along with all of that, I began to really dig deep into cryptocurrency and blockchain. Just as I started blogging on Coil about how anyone could become their own bank, I realized that in the present day and age, the best and fastest way to do so is actually with crypto and the technology that is being developed with blockchain. I went through a series where I explored blockchain in a few different ways, and even wrote some of my most recent posts on Understanding Blockchain and Cryptocurrency in an effort to help people who are new to the space really grasp what it is and how it may profoundly change the world as we know it. I also began writing a series of posts following David Schwartz's Block Stars podcast, summarizing and giving my thoughts on this important and very educational series of interviews that continue on today.

What's Next?

I've noticed a few patterns in my writing. First, I've noticed that I like to talk alot about decentralization and individual independence from systems. It's how I began my very first series on becoming your own bank, and it's why I've become more and more entrenched in the ideas of blockchain and crypto. Second, I've also noticed that I like to keep things simple and educational (albeit long-form), and I like to try to take lots of ideas (whatever that comes to my head) and try to make them as easy to understand as possible.

However, I've also noticed that I haven't yet been able to branch out from mostly financial and technology-related posts. So while I'm extremely interested in philosophy, science, art, and spirituality, I haven't been able to write much on those topics. Yet.

So, going forward, I believe I'll be reorienting slightly on what I post, and branching out on the things I cover. I'll still be talking a lot about decentralization and finances (because that's still where my current interests lie), but every once in a while, and hopefully increasingly, I want to start writing about these other areas of interest. I'll continue my “A Study In” series, and probably use those as springboards into other subjects that I like to think or talk about. If you have any suggestions, please feel free to hit me up on Twitter and let me know your thoughts!

For those that were interested in and following my development on Of Duchies and Polities, I'll be continuing that as soon as I can, but I may actually continue it on either another blog or some other medium. I'll definitely notify my readers if that's the case!

Final Thoughts

And so, we come to today, August 2020. As I've looked back on what I've done through this blog, I'm actually quite proud that (for the most part) I've been able to keep up writing at least once a week for a year. I took a few breaks here and there, but remained mostly on schedule. There's so much going on in the world that's so crazy, from COVID-19 to riots and protests erupting in the United States (where I'm from), and other, almost innumerable, happenings around the world. But as crazy as it may have gotten, I'm glad that through it all I've been able to continue blogging on Coil.

I'll admit, had Coil not been espousing its XRP-based tech for web monetization, I may never have gotten started. But, because this platform exists in the way it does, I was able to motivate myself to continue writing and blogging. So thanks VERY much to the Coil team and ALL the other bloggers on this platform that are making this possible!

I'll see you in the next post!