A lot can happen in 10 years—and it can go by so fast.

It was 10 years ago as a 29-year-old that I started this website. It was also the same time I decided to take the career leap to become a product manager at a growing tech company, something I knew embarrassingly little about the year before. I was also about to take another giant leap in my personal life, which was to move in with my then-girlfriend (now wife) and GASP! Move out of San Francisco, the town I grew up my entire life in to an entirely new city. I’ve written a little bit about this journey, in particular becoming a product manager, but in this post, I wanted to reflect on the origins of this very website that you, my dear reader, have been visiting, which is now officially 10 years old.

But before I dive into the humble beginnings of my website, I’d like to take a step back and share some of my earliest memories of my journey in becoming a “writer.” I like to think, in a way we are all writers of some kind. Whether it is as a working professional needing to write good emails to clients, superiors, and/or stakeholders, or doing the tap-tapping of our fingers on our smart devices texting our friends or posting to various social media outlets. I certainly have embodied those roles, but in the spirit of this post and my collection of articles, newsletters, etc., this is what I am referring to when I say “writer.” So without further ado, insert the wavy flashback.

My earliest writing experience was when I was 8 years old. I was in the second grade, attending San Francisco’s Cathedral School for Boys. Picture a group of boys dressed up like Harry Potter sans the wizard robes; and that was us. Growing up, I loved stories, particularly from consuming lots of movies and reading comic books. Like many boys my age, I was fascinated by superheroes. I channeled this passion mostly through playing with my action figures, but it soon took a more creative turn by spending hours drawing my own comic books and eventually writing my own short stories on the desktop computer my dad bought for my brother and me.

I adored the big names like Spider-Man and the Incredible Hulk, but also had a fondness for Radioactive Man from The Simpsons, probably because I watched that show religiously (I still quote that show with my best friend!) At the same time, the mid-90s brought the latest Bond film GoldenEye, starring Pierce Brosnan, which quickly became one of my favorite movies and eventually video games (Nintendo 64 fans know what I am talking about!).

Given that ammo of movies and comic book heroes to consume, I spent many hours by myself creating stories inspired by these characters. The very (not-so) creative me then created characters with the following names:

1. Spider-Kid – An almost identical look to Spider-Man but… he’s a kid. Sorry Marvel – Please don’t come for me!
2. Pat Bond – Again, very similar to 007 but looked more like me.
3. Nuclear Man – A wholly “original” character inspired by the Simpson’s character but had the same powers as Superman except he was created by surviving a nuclear blast.

So yes, the characters weren’t very original, but they sparked something in me. I began writing stories based on these comic books I created, eventually moving to writing Star Wars fan fiction. Mostly these stories were inspired by LucasArts video games like Dark Forces II: Jedi Knight, X-Wing Fighter, and Shadows of the Empire.

No one ever asked me to write these stories, nor did I ever share these stories to anyone, but it was something I would do in my free time and I enjoyed doing it. I would print these stories out on paper where they then sat under my parents staircase for many years until a fateful “spring cleaning” day by my mom lost these relics to the local waste management pickup.

That incident didn’t deter me, though. Moving into high school and college further fueled my love for creative writing. Creating something from nothing, without the constraints of having to write out formulas or equations, was appealing. At the same time, however, writing academic papers for classes was not enjoyable. These “assignments” had no passion behind them and it seemed like I had to do them just to appease a teacher, who probably knew way more about the subject anyway.

Attending college at Washington State University brought out a new phase in my writing. At 19, I started journaling—perhaps due to the new environment of living in a new state, literally not knowing anyone, and of course being a lonely and single very young adult on a campus full of new and exciting possibilities. These journal entries initially began as woe-is-me-I’m-single journaling, which eventually evolved into a creative outlet for poetry and inspirations from song lyrics, aiming to boost my confidence and personality.

Spoiler Alert: it didn’t.

My journal grew from a few pages of angsty teenager rants to a 50-page, single-spaced document spanning my college years into my early 30s. Who knows: Maybe someday I’ll share these writings, although they are probably way too embarrassing to go back and read. Perhaps they should be read at my funeral so I can be spared the embarrassment, which I am hoping will be a long way away.

Which brings us back to 10 years ago.

In my quest to become a product manager, one of my assignments in the Product Management Certification course at General Assembly I was enrolled in was to “write a blog post on a technology and discuss its features.” At the time, I didn’t know much about blogging or building websites. The most I ever learned about building websites was in the eighth grade when I went to computer camp (yes, I know, spare me the ridicule), where I learned HTML to build a webpage. That webpage soon devolved into guiding visitors to the Hamster song (look it up, kids).

The class I was enrolled in didn’t teach website building, so I had to figure it out myself. After some googling, I found out how to create a free account on WordPress, which would be the domain where I would host the blog for this homework assignment. After some consideration, I decided to take on the moniker of Phattymeeks (a name familiar to my Instagram friends). I wrote about Netflix, a rapidly up-and-coming tech company, and the features they had moving from the DVD system to the streaming system (sigh, I’m probably making myself look old again). I enjoyed that assignment so much, I decided to contribute more posts of random musings on my WordPress account.

Fast forward 10 years, and that domain has now become patrickmeeker.com, which I have used as a home to my content on Product Management, Birdwatching, and tech/sustainability.

I don’t have the recipe for successful writing, but I believe it must stem from enjoyment. If writing feels like a slog and you’re unsure of your goals or message, it might not be for you, and that’s okay.

As I continue to progress in my career, I hope my writings teach me and others new things. Here’s to another decade of learning and inspiration. Maybe someday, there will be that black-and-white photo of me on the back of a hardcover book. Here I come, Amazon!

I’ll leave you with this: Writing down experiences that evoke strong emotions can be valuable. Some people use frameworks like “rose, bud, and thorn” or “mad, glad, and sad” to reflect on their day. Collecting these daily highs and lows might compile into something significant to share with the world.

Happy Writing!