Turning The Lights On

I took just about a year off from writing anything. There wasn't some great plan or anything. I hadn't lost the passion for writing. It wasn't because I had a lack of words or thoughts. There was certainly enough to write about in the world of education, sports, and, you know, the "regular" world. It wasn't as if I didn't have the time. I've always had multiple jobs. The reason was quite simple.

I just didn't have anything I wanted to share.

The feeling started to come back a few weeks ago. I wrote one piece on my blog, sort of feeling my way around my writing process. And, then that urge started to come back. I told my wife last night in the car that I was fighting the urge to write like I used to. She responded in the only way she ever responds; she is the most supportive and honest person I have ever met.

"Why are you fighting it? Just write."

My wife always tells people that she fell in love with my writing long before she ever met me. That's been sticking in my head lately; I haven't been doing the thing that made her fall in love with me. And, I haven't been doing the one thing that brings me a sort of peace that I don't feel in most other places.

So, here we are, The Second Read.

One of my absolute favorite websites of all time was Grantland. Bill Simmons and his team put together a great collection of writing that spanned so many topics. The pieces weren't the typical ESPN analysis and they weren't the shock writing that we see in all genres of writing. It was site that celebrated long form writing and depth. Those qualities are desperately needed in today's world. While I have zero delusions of this site being in the same league as Grantland, I do want to add my own voice to the effort of quality, in-depth story telling.

I've run a few websites since 2007. I started writing baseball pieces for my site, FullCountPitch, which led to some other great writing opportunities. After 10 years of doing that (albeit off and on), I co-founded The Teacher and the Admin site that was all about reforming education and improving schools. That even led to a book being published.

As I was struggling to decide what I wanted to do, I knew one thing. I didn't just want to write about one topic. I want to write about education and sports, but I also want to write things about movies, being 50 years old, how people do their jobs day after day, our crazy political scene, music, and whatever else pops into my head. I also want to offer my experience and accumulated knowledge to help teachers in the field. I want to use this place to offer connections and live talks to help young teachers. I want this space to be thoughtful, collaborative, and a place where people enjoy the content.

So, there will be Classroom Stories, Education Reform articles, some baseball stories, life stories, and whatever else. No rules, not hot takes, just a focus on writing something worth reading.

I am excited to start. Thank you, in advance, for reading. It is never lost on me how much of a privilege it is to have my words read.