This is the finale of highly recommended, a series where I made compelling arguments for why you should like something that I like. 

Dear Reader, 

Well, it happened – I totally forgot about (i.e. didn’t really feel like) updating this blog for a very long period of time. It truly was the only way that this (misguided) project was going to come to an end. There’s no ceremony. There’s no definitive oral history digging into the golden years when highly recommended appeared on the internet at a semi-regular clip. There’s just this final post, an anticlimactic, unapologetic diatribe appearing more than a year and a half after the last one. 

But hey, at least I did something. 

I highly recommend starting a bit with no real exit strategy. 

Why?

No Overthinking 

Like some of the greatest minds of my generation, I’m prone to putting too much thought into almost everything I do. Will this be enjoyable? Will it bring my fame and fortune? Will it ever end? With highly recommended, I didn’t bother to answer any of these questions. (Although I’d be kidding if I didn’t think at least a little bit about how this backwater blog hidden on my professional portfolio site could be the catalyst to becoming a real Writer. I’m not that pure in my intentions.) I just fired up the corporate-provided laptop, developed a simple structure and started writing, totally unencumbered by the pressure of having to provide any sort of tidy conclusion. I know you’re supposed to start every short story with the ending, but this is blogging baby. No need for that kind of archaic thinking. 

More Fun To Start Things Than End Them 

I’ve started dozens of bits over the years. I’ve only ended about two. (Including this one.) That optimistic feeling you get at the beginning of something will always feel better than the nagging obligation to end it. Sure, there’s some things that you’re happy to see come to an end – the pandemic (lol, that’ll never happen), your favorite team’s losing streak, a particularly boring movie – but those endings are never feel fun. What you’re really feeling is relief. 

Flexibility 

Feeling “boxed in” is one of the worst possible feelings you can feel. And I don’t mean in a literal sense, although that normally doesn’t feel so great either. (Have you ever met someone who’s excited to spend time in an elevator?) By not planning ahead when I start a bit, I have the freedom to take it wherever I want. It could last three months. Twelve hours. It could completely change halfway through. I’m of the opinion that some of the best bits aren’t the result of detailed planning, but acting on impulse. Is that way none of my bits have never garnered any critical acclaim, much less more than a passing glance from the general public? You (and I) know the answer, so I won’t waste valuable space answering that here.

Opportunity For Growth 

If I knew exactly how this bit was going to end when I started, I most likely would have never bothered trying to make it any better. I know who I am – once things are set in motion, they are what they are and I won’t try to change that. Now, you could (very reasonably) argue that I never made any improvements to this series since the very first post. But was their opportunity for positive change? 100% Last time I checked, 100% ain’t too bad. 

Living In The Moment 

This is not something that comes easy for me. I tend to spend what would normally be considered calming moments kicking around predictions in my head, imagining what things would be like if this happened and that happened and then this happened after that. (Yes, I’m going to therapy.) With highly recommended, I tried my best to stay focused on the Google Doc that was open right in front of me instead of thinking what it would be like to write the last post in the series. I guess I’m allowed to do that now that I’m literally writing the last post in the series. My thoughts? I probably shouldn’t have eaten that entire sandwich for lunch, because I’m feeling a little sleepy and getting worried that I won’t finish this post by my self-imposed deadline of today, COB. I never said living in the moment was glamorous, just recommended. 

There’s got to be one thing you don’t like about starting a bit with no real exit strategy.

Trying To Achieve Some Sense Of Closure Long After Any Real Opportunity For Closure Has Passed 

Honestly, I’m not sure what I was trying to accomplish here. Part of me felt compelled to write this to provide some sort of update to people who were regularly reading these posts and wondered what happened after February 2020. (A lot of shit happened.) But both you and I know that nobody regularly read these posts. There’s no real audience I’m satisfying, except for the most important audience of all – myself. 

If this was supposed to make me feel any better about closing up shop on a bit I never really had any concrete plans for, it really didn’t. But that’s ok. There will be more bits. They most likely won’t be very well thought out. (If they were, I’d really start to question who I am. That could potentially be a bit, although I can’t imagine it would be a very exciting one.)

I’m just going to keep doing what I like doing, which I can’t recommend highly enough.

love, 

nicholas