It’s been awhile since I’ve been outside on the blogging streets. I’m some parts apprehensive of sharing so much of my life on Al Gore’s internet and other parts liberated in revealing parts of me that others identify with. Well, I’m here. I’m showing up. I’m doing the work, with the only reward being more opportunities to flex my mind through manipulating a keyboard attached to a dimly lit monitor. “Work begets work.” I remember reading that on Twitter years ago. I didn’t have the maturation then to really grasp the weight of those three words. I was too hardened by complacency and not disciplined enough to understand that sheer talent alone doesn’t produce optimal results. We either learn through the most difficult means imaginable or just don’t learn at all. The majority of the work I’ve been doing has been inward. I’ve had more than enough time to reflect on who I want to be in this next chapter of my life and how I want to achieve it. What I’ve learned along this very brief journey is that giving something up is insignificant compared to what you gain. Being a libra, I always have a side eye when the scales are too heavily tipped to one side. Naturally, skepticism ensued when I was repeatedly told the benefits of sobriety. I wasn’t ready to hear it, but the rest of me was ready to experience it.