About Me — Jon-Paul Brown

Dispatches From The World’s Most Average Man

This is a real jump! No Photoshop. I’ve been practicing this move since I was a little kid. (Photo credit: The asshole jumping in this picture.)

It was way back in 1999 when I launched my very first blog.

Back then, the internet still had that new-car smell. The allure of instantly connecting with an audience all around the world felt both unique and magical.

I was in my sophomore or junior year in college at the time, majoring in English. So, writing was something I did often anyway. However, writing for people other than my professors is what really attracted me to the growing blogging trend.

This is what every writer wants: to be read.

What blogging ended up being for me was a form of therapy I practice to this day. You see, I committed to writing a long blog post every single day of the workweek, taking weekends and holidays off to recuperate.

Writing for an audience – and hoping to keep that audience – makes you focus on being interesting and readable while still being truthful about your life and experiences. I quickly realized that perfection often equaled monotony.

Contrary to what you would think a form of therapy would have you do, I found myself searching for, and finding joy in, the “weeds amongst the flowers.”