"It's not the song, it's the singing'. It's the heaven of the human spirit ringin'..."

Sometimes the only real way to move forward is to let go of the past holding you back. I don't mean forgiving and forgetting (I'm too petty for that) or to disassociate yourself from meaningful things in your history. Quite the opposite.

It's important to reflect upon the lessons it taught you. To remember it with kindness (if you can) and THEN kiss it goodbye.

The problem for me is that I've never (in my whole life!) been good at goodbyes. Old toys, old clothes, old boyfriends... I hang on to everything and everyone. It's a compulsion I suppose. A manifestation of some childhood trauma that I have yet to pinpoint and analyze. But at any rate, goodbyes are not my forte.

However, tonight I'm saying an important and very necessary goodbye.  As of this writing, I have decided to shut down The Jerry Curl. 

Started in 2007, that blog saw me through both the happiest and darkest times of my life. I began running it as a means of filling "the endless hours I [spent] wasting away at my dead-end job." But it was also a place where I documented important moments in my life... in a way preserving them for future reference. 

But life happens. And distractions do their deeds. And soon The Jerry Curl started to feel less like an outlet and more like a burden. Worst yet, it became a painful reminder of what I wasn't doing anymore... writing. 

I didn't know how to evolve The Jerry Curl beyond what I had created it to be and therefore stopped going to it with new material. I outgrew the sandbox. But having a hard time letting go as I do, I didn't. I kept trying to reignite the flame on a spent candle.

But tonight, alone with my dogs, looking out my window onto the South Hills of Pittsburgh/nowhere, I realized that it was time... Time to reflect upon the lessons it taught me. To remember it with kindness because I can. And kiss it goodbye.

The Jerry Curl

September 27, 2007 - January 2, 2019