The Art of Starting Again

... and why it's okay to revisit old loves in a new way.

When it comes to human relationships, I’m a “once and done” kind of person. If we officially call it quits, that’s it—no room for past loves in my book.

However, my passions and interests are a different story. I’m the type who revisits them whenever the right inspiration strikes. I cycle through them in various phases of life.

I’m told it’s the curse of the multi-passionate.

That’s why I’m here now, on Substack, to revisit my old love for blogging and creating content.

The Ex-Blogging Expert

I started blogging long before the term ‘weblog’ became popular. In the late 90s, I created personal sites on now-forgotten platforms (Geocities, Blogger, Xanga, and LiveJournal, anyone?) and experimented with every new social media platform.

This led me to become the first ever ‘Weblog Expert’ on the now-defunct site About.com, once a New York Times publication. I was a professional blogger long before social media influencers were a ‘thing’ online.

In that role, I tested every website platform that emerged from the late 90s to the early 2000s—WordPress, Movable Type, Expression Engine, ModBlog, Multiply, MSN, Yahoo 360, Drupal, Mambo, Squarespace, and more. I even started one of the first podcasts and vlogs in early 2005.

As an early influencer, I received gifts and merchandise from different companies, went on tours, and was offered money to write. I was featured in newspapers, magazines, websites, radio, and TV. I gave keynote speeches, workshops, and presentations at various events across Australia and overseas.

I was hired by companies to manage social media and became a notable voice in this space, including channels run by Microsoft. I was still working for one of Microsoft's channels when I decided to step away from it all in 2018 to become a full-time educator.

I continued my personal blogging and social platforms for some time after retiring from pro blogging and social media work. However, for various reasons, I found myself posting less and less. Eventually, maintaining my main site, ShaiCoggins.com, became too much, and I let years of my blogging history disappear. Though you can probably dig some of it up using the Wayback Machine.

Back to a Beginner’s Mind

“In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert’s there are few.” ― Shunryu Suzuki

As a multi-passionate person, I know that I can never do everything all at once. I choose a few things at a time and become completely, deeply absorbed in them for certain periods. Once I feel satiated (or if something else catches my fancy), I move on.

Sometimes, I move on for good. Other times, I return with fresh inspiration.

Usually, if they’re passions that I’ve spent a considerable amount of time and money on, they return with a vengeance, like neglected lovers demanding more from me.

Blogging is that passion that has been knocking on my door, begging to be let back in for some time now.

I made excuses: not enough time or energy, not sure exactly what to write about, no interest in maintaining my own hosting and platform. And most importantly—are there even people who still read blogs?

But the knocking stayed persistent.

I tried investigating existing platforms—good ol’ WordPress and Squarespace, as well as the ‘newer’ places like Medium, Wix, and others.

I knew I could continue exploring and making excuses—or just get on with it and get started.

I ended up using Threads a lot over the past month as a micro-blogging platform. And even though the community still feels relatively small and the engagement isn’t high, it reminded me so much of the earlier days of the social web. It inspired me to keep posting.

And the more I posted, the more I created.

That’s when I realised that I have a lot more content I’d like to create and share.

I decided to make Substack a space where I can start creating more long-form posts, like the way I used to blog, minus all the bells and whistles of a hosted platform.

I don’t know much about Substack or how blogging works in 2024, so I’ll figure it out as I go along. Tips, of course, are welcome.

Welcome to Story Weavers Society: The Multi-Passion Journal

This is my attempt at publishing a new kind of blog, with the hope that it will develop into a vibrant community and publication dedicated to celebrating the art of storytelling and the beauty of embracing multiple passions. A place on the web where we believe that creativity knows no boundaries and that every story is a thread in the rich tapestry of life.

The mission is to inspire and empower multi-passionate individuals to weave together their diverse interests into unique and meaningful narratives. Through engaging content, useful tips, short and long features, images, and thought-provoking reflections, we will explore the intersections of creativity, personal growth, and storytelling.

So, whether you consider yourself an artist, writer, photographer, journal keeper, traveller, poet, or simply someone who wears many creative hats, I hope that Story Weavers Society will become your space to connect with like-minded souls, discover new perspectives, and find the courage to tell your own story in your own way.

I hope that you will join me on this journey of exploration, where every passion has a place, and every story is worth telling.