A photograph captures a singular moment in time. It reveals the feelings and experiences of those pictured, but only for that one second. One can look closely to reveal some of the history of the subjects leading up to the photographed moment, and one can imagine the future potential of the individuals portrayed, but the photo itself only contains that one instant.

By collecting numerous photos of a subject over years of time, one can start to develop a storyline for that person and see more of who they are in their entirety.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Does that mean the converse is also true – a thousand words is worth a picture?

My blog posts this year have all been under a thousand words with only one exception, and most of them have reached almost to that threshold, falling in the 950-999 words the majority of the time. Each of them represents one singular moment in time. One thought in my process. One step in my journey.

By reading just one post, you capture a singular moment in my story. By reading several, you get a fuller understanding of who I am and where I am in my growth curve. By reading all of them in chronological order, you can begin to see a trajectory and might even predict where I’m headed.

Just like in a photograph, the moment represented in each post is already past by the time it is seen. It represents a past truth of my experience, but I’ve already built upon that split second and moved on. The words on the screen contain hints of my history up until that captured image and give clues to what is to come, but the only thing they mean for sure is a description of that individual instant.

My blogging expedition of capturing one or two points of my life’s story each week for a year is kind of like a photographic journal of a woman’s pregnancy where one picture of her growing tummy is taken each week throughout the whole nine months. By themselves, the photos are fun reminders of that week. Together, they document a larger story. Once that story is complete, it has given birth to another story just beginning to unfold, which will be captured by hundreds of snapshots over years of time.

Each of my posts describes a place where I’ve been. They are part of who I am. Only compiled together do they begin to contain a fuller narrative. Once my year of blogging is complete, it will give birth to another story of unlimited potential. Its contents can be speculated from the previous history represented and the likely course it points to, but only time will tell.

Capturing moments in my learning and experience and then chronicling them for posterity was part of my goal. It has allowed me to visualize my thoughts and develop deeper understanding of the issue of gender identity along with unveiling pieces of myself that need refining and healing. This is not a simple issue that people just need to get used to and move on from. It’s deep and affects how one views the world, relationships, society, faith, and family.

I gave myself permission to fully feel and to have a voice. I challenged myself to seek knowledge and understanding and not have a foregone conclusion. Each post cements a step on that path. I’m looking forward to what’s ahead. My one-year commitment to this blog will come to a conclusion, but the next volume of our story will just be commencing.