I don't think I was prepared for the writer's block that would come after my grandmother's passing. It's not as though I am overwhelmed with grief, but moreso, I don't exactly know how to focus right now. When I am at work, it seems effortless for me to rattle off dozens of prospective topics and titles for posts and articles that I'd like to write. I even scribble down whole sentences that I tell myself I *must* include the next time I sit down to begin typing away prolifically. As if...
With all that is going on in the world right now, and all that has happened in my own tiny sphere as of late, I don't think it's the worst thing ever to have taken a few days off from the blog, but I don't want it to become a pattern.
I had a wonderfully charged conversation the other night with a dear friend who attends a 12 step program for spending. Every day she has to "check in" in her sponsor about what she sets out to do for the day, and then she receives calls from two other people checking in with her about their plans for the day. She spoke of the necessity of accountability, routine, and community. Because of the implicit responsibility of having to chart your course in very strategic and mindful ways when you have to consistently report back to a sponsor on a daily basis, it leaves less room for impulsivity and misguided detours if one truly participates.
Part of me envied my friend's approach, and then another part of me instantly realized that this blog has a similar affect on me. For all intents and purposes, this space is my haven, my confessional where I get to exorcise my demons, and baseless ponderings. (Man, can you tell I was raised Catholic?) And when I don't write, my mind feels more muddled, and I succumb to infinite distractions. Dare I say, I am a better person, a better friend, a better listener, a better producer in the world when I grant myself the time to sit in this isolation chamber of my home office, and just "write it out." (Kind of like "hugging it out," but with one less set of arms.)
So, now with dozens of ideas spooled around my metaphorical finger, like a string tied tightly in an act of remembrance, I am going to try to forge through the writer's block, and return to the daily missives. Before the holidays, I mentioned starting two new series of interviews on this blog, one called, "Men I Admire," and the other titled, "Women of Intrigue." I have some fascinating people already signed on, and I plan to do some of the interviews in a more conversational approach, to really get in there, and have some fun. My hope is that these chats, along with the many others I am having in my "real" life, may help me jump start my return to daily posts, and hold me accountable for launching several longer articles to submit by the end of February. I need deadlines, I need guidelines, I need clotheslines... Well... The first two, anyway.
I will be back later today, writing more, and getting myself prepared to start. I hope you can tune back in, and we'll see what I come up with... And we're off!
With all that is going on in the world right now, and all that has happened in my own tiny sphere as of late, I don't think it's the worst thing ever to have taken a few days off from the blog, but I don't want it to become a pattern.
I had a wonderfully charged conversation the other night with a dear friend who attends a 12 step program for spending. Every day she has to "check in" in her sponsor about what she sets out to do for the day, and then she receives calls from two other people checking in with her about their plans for the day. She spoke of the necessity of accountability, routine, and community. Because of the implicit responsibility of having to chart your course in very strategic and mindful ways when you have to consistently report back to a sponsor on a daily basis, it leaves less room for impulsivity and misguided detours if one truly participates.
Part of me envied my friend's approach, and then another part of me instantly realized that this blog has a similar affect on me. For all intents and purposes, this space is my haven, my confessional where I get to exorcise my demons, and baseless ponderings. (Man, can you tell I was raised Catholic?) And when I don't write, my mind feels more muddled, and I succumb to infinite distractions. Dare I say, I am a better person, a better friend, a better listener, a better producer in the world when I grant myself the time to sit in this isolation chamber of my home office, and just "write it out." (Kind of like "hugging it out," but with one less set of arms.)
So, now with dozens of ideas spooled around my metaphorical finger, like a string tied tightly in an act of remembrance, I am going to try to forge through the writer's block, and return to the daily missives. Before the holidays, I mentioned starting two new series of interviews on this blog, one called, "Men I Admire," and the other titled, "Women of Intrigue." I have some fascinating people already signed on, and I plan to do some of the interviews in a more conversational approach, to really get in there, and have some fun. My hope is that these chats, along with the many others I am having in my "real" life, may help me jump start my return to daily posts, and hold me accountable for launching several longer articles to submit by the end of February. I need deadlines, I need guidelines, I need clotheslines... Well... The first two, anyway.
I will be back later today, writing more, and getting myself prepared to start. I hope you can tune back in, and we'll see what I come up with... And we're off!
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