Behind the Keyboard

So who is the person behind the keyboard of this blog, anyway?

Saying our Vows, January 26, 2019

My name is Catherine, and I’ve been online in one form or another since 1990, which means I’m old enough to remember the era of IRC, BBSs and USENET newsgroups, as well as using command-line interfaces. I’ve had a personal web site since 1996, and have used my own domain since 2003. I used to use sonria.org, and still own that domain — it redirects here — but in 2020 I switched to using collingwest.blog since it better defined who I was.

I’m a forty-something crazy Catholic lady. That is, among other things, I’m both Catholic and love cats. I currently live and work in the Atlanta, Georgia, metropolitan area; but I’m originally from Eastern North Carolina. Yes, I have an accent, although I’m told it’s pretty mild. No, I’m not a redneck, although I will correct anyone who even suggests that barbecue could be red (or made from cows).

During the first half of my life, I was primarily single and child-free; and I developed a career in the human resources and employee benefits fields. When I hit the decade mark, I figured that was an indicator that my primary vocation was to the lay, single life, so I decided to fully embrace it and worked to develop myself toward fulfilling that particular state.

But there’s an old saying about God laughing every time you make a plan, and he certainly got a kick out of watching me. Why? Because I was in for a big surprise: in my mid-forties, I married a wonderful man named Will. It’s a second marriage for both of us, and it also meant the addition of “bonus kids” to my life. I never thought either of these things would happen to me, but here they are; and now it’s time for me to integrate that new identity into the one I’d previously built.

As of this writing, I am owned by two cats: Emily (age 17) is an opinionated silver “tuxedo tabby.” Ladybug (age 7) is an equally opinionated marbled tortie. Fortunately, they’ve split up the two adult humans in the house; Emily is bonded to me and Ladybug is bonded to Will. They are both perfectly happy to get scritches and attention from any human, however.

I was baptized and initially raised as a Catholic, had my First Communion at age seven, and was even an altar server for several years (at two different parishes). Unfortunately, due to family circumstances I wasn’t able to complete initial catechetical formation — I dropped out during middle school. Because of that, I also didn’t go through confirmation preparation in high school; and by that time I’d mostly drifted away from the faith anyway. It was always there in the background, though, and in my mid-to-late twenties I had a couple of experiences that caused me to reconsider.

Eventually that led me back into the Church, and I was confirmed at the Easter Vigil in 2002. I actively practiced for several years after that, but the difficulty in being a divorced career woman among so many wives and mothers eventually got to me; I gradually stopped attending Mass or being active in a parish. I never stopped being Catholic in terms of belief or mindset, though, and when Will and I started dating I became active again. I currently serve as both a Proclaimer of the Word and an Adoration Guardian at my parish.

While the return to active practice of the faith was a result of the change in my life, the fact that I’m a writer is not; I’ve done that my whole life. My family recounts anecdotes where I was stringing words into sentences and telling original stories as early as age three; and I’ve periodically kept journals since I was about seven. In my twenties, I began writing fan fiction; I still do occasionally, but these days I tend to focus on original fiction and non-fiction. I’m particularly interested in the genre of creative nonfiction.

I’ve been known to opine that writing isn’t something I do. A writer is what I am; I simply can’t not write.

Outside of writing, benefits work, family and Church (whew!) I also enjoy a couple of hobbies. The one that has been most enduring is photography; at one point I completed most of a professional certificate course, but while doing this I realized that I don’t like working on assignment. Since that’s what professional photographers do, I realized that, for me, taking pictures needed to remain a hobby.

The second hobby that’s been relatively enduring is participation in popular media fandom. I began with Star Trek (which is still my first love), but I’m also active with several other fandoms and in following science news in general. I’ve gone to Dragon Con several times and plan to keep doing so in the future, although I ended up skipping 2021 due to health reasons. I’m also a participant in various online initiatives from time to time. I’ve fallen away from fandom somewhat after my marriage, but this is something I intend to pick back up again.

Besides these hobbies, I also donate some of my time and talent to local cat rescues, and occasionally do various textile arts (most frequently cross-stitch). So I’m keeping busy at this new life, and I’m looking forward to seeing what new challenges it will bring in the future.

As I once saw on a signboard in rural North Carolina: life doesn’t have to be perfect to be spectacular. With luck, divine assistance and hard work, I’m hoping to build that spectacular life. Time will tell whether I’m successful.

Originally posted at https://collingwest.blog/2021/behind-the-keyboard/.