Flashback Friday: Deja Vu

            **This post is a part of the Flashback Friday series. Participants use the last Friday of each month to repost an old post that needed more attention, that you're very proud of, that you think is still relevant, etc. It is hosted by Michael G D'Agostino at A Life Examined. I had to laugh to myself when I came across this post titled "Not Again" from September 30, 2011. I forgot how often my life would veer off course from my blog back in that first year of blogging, and sadly, still today. I actually will be addressing my unforeseen time away and making some very long overdue visits in the next week.**

Not Again

 



           I cannot believe another month has passed by and I haven't managed to get a post up. I have got to get myself on some kind of schedule. To all of those potential readers out there who have probably given up on me: I have ideas...I really do! The problem is getting them out of my mind and into words that make sense to the rest of the world. I can't believe that it has been a year since I started this journey. I was rereading my post and I remembered how enthusiastic I was. I had (still have) so many ideas of stories and topics to write about and I was ready to share them...or so I thought. I guess the past year has been kind of like a long distance race and I didn't pace myself the right way. I started out as fast as I could, I posted twice a month and at least one of those posts was something new. Then, I started losing wind and started searching for diary entries or poems I had already written. Now, I am barely moving forward and only trying to keep pace just to get my monthly time stamp. My last entry was in the middle of August and it was an obituary for my dog with mostly pictures. Look at me now, I am sitting here summarizing my blog...The motivation has disappeared and I am trying to find my second wind. As the Bible says, “...let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us."(Heb. 12:1, KJV) Ok, so I guess I'm taking that verse a little out of context, but in this race that is set before me, I have been weighed down. Instead of writing for fun and inspiration, I have only been writing out of obligation and thoroughness. I have allowed my enthusiasm to dissolve into the pool of all my other thoughts and tasks. I want to get motivated again, so, I know I've said this before, but don't give up on me yet. I still plan to keep this going. I hope that stories and poems from my past are at least mildly entertaining, and I do hope to get some more intriguing new material out in the future.

Here's a past post about getting motivated in a race (maybe I should read it again): Attaining the Prize

August IWSG

 

            Time for another posting with the Insecure Writers Support Group, where writers can share their insecurities and encourage one another. IWSG was founded by Alex J. Cavanaugh and we share our posts the first Wednesday of the month. The IWSG now poses a question for us to answer in our monthly posts. The question for our August 3rd posting is: What was your very first piece of writing as an aspiring writer? Where is it now? Collecting dust or has it been published?

 

            Honestly, this question makes me a little sad. When I was in sixth grade, we had a time period set aside each day for Writer’s Workshop. It was the first time I had ever heard of and kept a portfolio and the first time I ever considered pursuing writing. I wrote some short stories, essays, and poems for the assignments I kept in my portfolio. One of my poems was chosen to be printed in our sixth grade class poetry booklet. About 8-10 years ago, my mom found my Writer’s Workshop portfolio in storage and I held it in my hands and flipped through it nostalgically. But then, I was only home for the weekend and had to go back to college and I forgot about the portfolio. I don’t know what happened to it after that. If it was returned to storage, my family’s garage had a rodent infestation, so it was most likely ruined. I wish I would have put it in a safe place with some of my other keepsakes as soon as I saw it that day. The moral of this story: Always save your writing and back it up!

            July was not a productive month for me. It’s not exactly a time issue, I think it’s a lack of brain energy and motivation at the end of the day. I think the summer heat is getting to me, that and constantly having to help cover vacations and a coworker’s pregnancy leave at work. I’m hoping things will settle down a little as schools start back up and the weather cools down. Maybe then I will be able to focus more on my writing again.

Question of the Month: Favorite Beach

 

The Question of the Month is a bloghop that occurs the first Monday of each month and it is hosted by Michael G D'Agostino from A Life Examined. Here is this month’s question:

 "What's your favourite beach?"

            I have had the privilege to visit a handful of beaches on the Pacific and Atlantic coasts and along the Gulf of Mexico. I enjoyed aspects of each of the beaches I’ve been too, but the one I enjoyed the most was in Cape Canaveral, Florida. My friends and I had access to a semi-private beach with the resort we were staying at and it was such a peaceful place. Plus, we saw a manatee, which was awesome! For the rest of my post, I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves. And if you want more pictures, I featured some in one of my Throwback Thursday Photos posts last year.