The time has come for this site to revert to whatever "dust" is in this weird digital era we're navigating. After 5 years and about 150 posts (not including the 30-40 that seem to be forever consigned to the Drafts folder, never to see the light of day), I've decided it's time to let this site go. It came from nothing... and to nothing it's about to return.
A couple of months back, I sat down and seriously re-evaluated a lot of things in my life and decided to change some priorities. The first thing I did was quit social media - all of it. I deleted my Twitter, removed myself from all of the various Discord groups I was in. I'm not quite arrogant enough to think that anyone noticed my absence - or that anyone that did cared, exactly - but after months of wondering whether it was something that I should do, it didn't take me long to realise I'd made the right call. I wasn't missing it. After 30 days, I got the standard "you need to login again or your account will REALLY be deleted" email from Twitter. I ignored it - and my account is no more.
That self-inflicted divorce from the noise of the internet sparked me to start considering my relationship with other bits and pieces I relied on the web for - and at the top of the list was this site. I started this site as a place to share my thoughts on games online in a way that didn't make me have to write reaction pieces to news stories as part of the agreement. It was a place that I could make my own rules, say what I wanted - and critically just get into the habit of putting my thoughts down in words. To set up some positive creative routines, in other words. It worked, up to a point - but in the last few months I've found myself writing things to put on here simply because I feel like I should, rather than because I want to. I'm a family man in my early-40's, I have enough obligations without loading myself up with more.
So, here we are. The final post. The various subscriptions that keep this site online have all been cancelled and will run their course, after which this whole thing will be gone. I thought about the idea of downloading it all and saving it for... something - but on balance decided against it. There's something appealing to me about letting the whole thing just kinda sink beneath the waves of the web, where it will eventually vanish without trace. I'm going to carry on writing, and doing various other creative things. Hell, maybe some of it will find its way out into the wider world but when/if that happens, it won't be here - because here won't be.
Those of you who've visited, read, commented, shared... thank you for the time you invested here. I wish you all well.
I'll see you all again in another place, at another time. Peace out.
Stu - PharaohCreator/SharkSilent/BoredomKills