1st Anniversary of Blogging Therapy

One year ago today I hit publish on my first blog post chronicaling my attempt at calming my mind post heart surgery thru baseball card collecting.

Some quick arithmetic shows me I posted 42 times this past year and was lucky enough to complete trades with 15 other collectors, some several times.

It’s been a little over two years since my heart surgery and I’ve noticed a tremendous improvement for me on the mental side of things.

I’m a stay-at-home dad so most of my daily tasks are centered around things without endings. There’s always going to be more dishes, more laundry, more accidents to clean up, more whining to endure, etc . . .

A few days ago my daughter was having a lovely breakdown and instead of getting stressed I grabbed a stack of 2004 Heritage and proceeded to put them in numerical order. By the time I was done her tantrum was also over and I completed a task.

I have a mathematical mind so being able to order a Heritage set centers me. There’s also a level a fulfillment that washes over me when I’m able to complete a set and look at all of the cards in the binder. The hobby is extremely calming for me.

At the end of the day, though, it’s just cardboard. This is a hobby I’m not expecting to make any sort of profit off of in the future. This is a hobby I simply enjoy doing. Baseball card collecting, along with  God, my family, and friends, has helped me carry on each and every day.

Thank you so much to all of my readers and trading partners. It’s truly a blessing to be able to connect with generous souls thru a common interest.

I’ll be holding my annual Heritage pack giveaway in a few weeks as a way to say thank you.

PSA time!

For several weeks after my heart surgery I was thoroughly convinced I was either dead or trapped in a dream because I was one of the lucky 25% of people who come down with delirium during recovery. No one is completely sure what causes it or what it even is but as someone who has endured it please take my advice – Don’t smoke, eat healthily, and get some exercise. My surgery was due to a genetic condition but most people have the ability to control their lifestyle to hopefully avoid heart problems.

Thanks for reading and here’s to another year of spending way too much money on pieces of cardboard!