I present to you the world's next Blogger/PodCaster/YouTube Star!

Have I ever mentioned that I am a writer? It is evident since you are reading this story at this very moment.

I am not a great writer.

I started writing right after I retired from the military and failed at my first 'real' job. Not just failed- tanked! But, on paper, I am what every employer wants. 20+ years of experience with logistical knowledge. Fantastic ability to work under pressure and deadlines. I can multitask like no other and have been responsible for hundreds of people and their families. But, in only seven months working at the Courthouse, I ran for the Alaskan hills wanting to disappear from everything.

I needed a break. I moment to regroup and gather myself. Every good leader knows when to retreat and re-examine their plan of action.

So I spent four months sitting on my porch smoking and writing nonsense. I went on hikes with my son and enjoyed the silence of nature. I repainted my deck, redid most of the trim on the house, started DIY projects that I found on Pinterest, and cooked dinners. That is what I want you to believe. Here is the truth:

I picked the wrong paint for the deck. I am scared of ladders, so the only trim that got done was in my reach. Unfortunately, those DIY projects- never worked out, so I have half-finished floors that need to be replaced. Cooking dinners are fun- until you have to clean up the flour and wash the dishes.

So I got a puppy to add to the family because that is what I needed right then? A third dog! Ever tried to walk three dogs at once? I have- it doesn't work out. So then you have to take double the walks a day. And you can't just do a quick walk because I have three large dogs that all feel that 2 miles are 2 miles too short.

By the end of summer, my child was tired of me, and I think that my husband was taking on extra shifts so that he didn't get roped into helping me on a new project. My writing was getting me nowhere. You can't write the next Great American novel when you can't even remember that Wednesday is trash day.

I changed tactics. When one plan fails- attempt a new one. So I built a website and started writing blogs. It started because during my hours on the porch smoking; I would find strange memes on Facebook that would use historical moments to push a political opinion. At one point, when I was motivated, I had gotten my college education resulting in a Master's degree and two Advanced Certificates in American Studies and Historic Preservation. There is one thing I do know- how to research. Unfortunately, many of these memes were not telling the whole story. They were not even scratching the surface of the truth.

I became a woman on a mission. I would find a meme, roll my eyes, research the historical moments behind that meme, and then write a blog on the research: the good, the bad, the ugly, and the sometimes heart-warming truth. My blogs sometimes can be borderline gossipping- like did you know that George Washington was writing love letters to another woman when he was engaged to Martha? Or that Henry Ford was instrumental in the destruction of the Rain Forest with his failed attempt to grow rubber trees? Or that President Harding called his man-part 'Jerry' in letters to his mistress?

Building a website took months, writing the blogs became almost a full-time job. My only followers were my family members, who I guilted into reading my stories. And even they wouldn't read them. I don't think my husband has read any of them. So I changed tactics- I would write the blogs, then I created a podcast. I have fewer followers on my podcast than my blogs- but I am sure that will turn around at some point. Right?

Now I am trying to create YouTube videos. I have been working on one for about a month.

Dear Lord, take the wheel on this attempt....videos are brutal.

To date, I haven't finished one yet. But I am hopeful that by the end of June, I will have created at least 4 to start posting.

Now you are probably asking- 'Why are you doing all this with no real following?'

It's not about the following. Sure- I would love to have all my hard work acknowledge by 'thumb-up's' and 'likes'. But, it is more than that. It is the stories that I uncover. It is the side players in significant events that are often forgotten about. Or tidbits of information that the world should remember. I want our history to be more than a meme found on Facebook or a video on TikTok. Those are fine- as long as when you see them- you remember the whole story and not just what one perspective is.

My mother once was tittering on if she should take a new job or not. Months of her going back and forth if she wanted to leave her comfort zone and venture out into a new world. She asked me one morning what I thought- and I told her:

'Be Great at something you are Good at!'

That is my slogan....it is the foundation of my hours of research and editing. I am going to be Great at what I am Good at, and that is storytelling.

So dear friends- if you have made it this far...Thank you! I invite you to visit my website at any time. In it, you will find the incomplete novel that I am still trying to write, events that I found that might interest people (all virtual), and my blogs with a link to my podcast. I promise you- they are not great yet. But they are good.

I think.

Blog | Wannabe Historian- Rose L. Geer-Robbins | United States

P.S. - my mother took the job and she absolutely loves it!