Until 2005, most of what I wrote was in emails to family or friends. Then a new platform for writers named Yahoo360 came on the scene, and that's where I learned the most about the social component of the internet.

Having been recently liberated from an oppressive reality and a lifetime of being silenced, I found my voice and started talking and writing out loud. Then without realizing it, by narrating my thoughts about past events, I could make peace with parts that I had not been aware bothered me, and with that, blogging became... therapeutic.

Blogging also opened doors to friendships in faraway places with people who just seemed to "get me," who then traveled with me into new social channels in sites like Facebook and Instagram, where we are still today.