This is Gabriel. In a past life, I used to go by Billy, billybob, boogydownbill, etc… That life has passed long since; it didn’t go easy though. How do you rid yourself of a past identity? For me, it wasn’t as simple as changing my name, well partly, but it needed something else to accompany it… moving across this beautiful nation (physically beautiful). After a year at community college, I decided to move to CA with a best bud. Short on cash and lacking an objective, my time there was destructive and instructive, discouraging and encouraging. That experience pooped out part of what I am now, Gabriel. Due to some complication, I moved back to NC two years later.

Again, after another year of community college, I felt the urge to move! Almost three years later, I moved back from China determined to finish school. In between that time and up till now, I’ve kept moving when I can, Mexico, Cuba, Europe, etc… just to keep me sane. Why school? I still question that sometimes, but the thing that keeps me going is a dream that was born when I first moved to CA. I am determined to join Doctor’s Without Borders, though once I thought as a doctor, now as a nurse. As a nurse I can still provide the aid and comfort that is needed, that I want to give, but can still do the many, many other things I enjoy doing!

Look forward to YOU reading my post!

Ciao

Be yourself; Everyone else is already taken.

— Oscar Wilde.

This is the first post on my new blog. I’m just getting this new blog going, so stay tuned for more. Subscribe below to get notified when I post new updates.

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.

Why do this?

• Because it gives new readers context. What are you about? Why should they read your blog?
• Because it will help you focus you own ideas about your blog and what you’d like to do with it.

The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.

To help you get started, here are a few questions:

• Why are you blogging publicly, rather than keeping a personal journal?
• What topics do you think you’ll write about?
• Who would you love to connect with via your blog?
• If you blog successfully throughout the next year, what would you hope to have accomplished?

You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.

Can’t think how to get started? Just write the first thing that pops into your head. Anne Lamott, author of a book on writing we love, says that you need to give yourself permission to write a “crappy first draft”. Anne makes a great point — just start writing, and worry about editing it later.

When you’re ready to publish, give your post three to five tags that describe your blog’s focus — writing, photography, fiction, parenting, food, cars, movies, sports, whatever. These tags will help others who care about your topics find you in the Reader. Make sure one of the tags is “zerotohero,” so other new bloggers can find you, too.