Sitting in my car waiting for the torrential downpour to subside, it seemed as good a time as any to collect my thoughts into a column of sorts.

As I approach the one-year anniversary of my making the fairly steep transition from the world of weekly newspapers to that of corporate marketing, it strikes me how very much things have changed in my life over the course of the last 12 months.

As I lay here on the couch on this slightly overcast Saturday, beach outing in flux, evening fireworks subject to cancellation due to passing thunderstorms, I am once again reminded that plans—as much as we continue to believe we have the complete autonomy to make them—are but a rough outline of the reality which so often befalls us.

Summer is barely underway, yet it’s already shaping up to be a season of surprises. Who’s to say what the next two months will bring? Certainly not me.

Used to be, I could turn out an adequate column in under an hour, on deadline, with little preparation—or prior inspiration. I’d stare at the computer screen while eating my usual 3 p.m. Chipotle lunch at my desk, willing an idea to materialize from thin air.

Hello, it’s me.

I haven’t written in awhile. Two months and 10-odd days, to be precise. But who’s counting? Not me, surely—not until I glance at the calendar and realize, wow, it’s been a bit since I’ve taken the time to thread my meandering thoughts into words.

I suppose not having a weekly deadline to meet will do that to you.