Friday, August 26, 2016

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

18 comments:

  1. 2011? I'd say you've kept it going rather well!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Alex! I did take about a year and a half off, but ever since I started it back up in February of last year, I can't seem to stay away too long :)

      Delete
  2. It is good though that you keep blogging away, even if it is just a few entries a month. A lot of people might have given up by now.

    betty

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Betty! There were a couple weeks I missed, but I'm glad to be posting and visiting again. I missed my blogging friends :)

      Delete
  3. I think many of us who have been blogging for a while have a much different motivation and outlook about blogging than when we first started. It's probably good to step back now and then to reassess where we've been, where we are, and where we would like to go. It's a good metaphor for life as well.

    Arlee Bird
    Tossing It Out

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That is an excellent metaphor, Arlee! For blogging/writing and for life.

      Delete
  4. You've done well. And I think at the start (also in 2011) I was somewhat random in my postings, not to mention self-conscious. It takes time to settle in, I think. And it also takes someone to read and comment on your blog to encourage you - I thank the A to Z Challenge for that! (Thanks, Lee!)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jemima, I came back to blogging because of the A to Z, and the comments and encouragement from the blogging community has been part of what keeps me going :)

      Delete
  5. It's hard to find things to blog about. Once I started blogging about my job, I found I never ran out of ideas. Then summer hit...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Liz, five years ago, I had trouble coming up with topics. Now, my problem isn't necessarily the post topics, it's more of a lack of time to go in depth on the ideas I have.

      Delete
  6. I agree with Arlee and Jemima! Blogging takes a lot of growing and changing. When I started in 2012, I was the opposite of you: I had no idea what I wanted to write about, just knew that since I'd published a book I was supposed to blog. The first posts are random. Over the years, I've settled into about 3 things I blog on: book reviews, writing (both posting stories and writing about writing), and photos/travel writing. It works for me :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Rebecca, those are great things to blog about! I think I'm still trying to settle in since my blog restart in 2015, hence the word "random" in my title :)

      Delete
  7. Deja Vu, huh? I think we've all written a post like that at some point, but look at you now. We've probably all come a long way.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Toi, I have definitely come a long way since that 2011 post. At that time, I didn't even know what a blog hop was, lol :)

      Delete
  8. Every blogger can surely relate to this! I certainly can. At one point, I quit for 4 months. It does help to take periodic breaks. You come back with renewed enthusiasm, yes?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Debbie, I'm enthused when I come back to blogging after a break, but then I get busy again, and I feel bad for not having enough time to make visits on a regular basis.

      Delete
  9. I tend to veer off all the time. But you came back and still post every once in a while. That's better than some who have dropped off the face of the earth!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes Loni, I tend to wonder where some people go when you don't see a post for months.

      Delete

Thank you for stopping by! Please feel free to leave a comment and I will visit you back :)

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...