I thought a lot about my blog last year during my blogging hiatus. My thinking went something like this:
[while up to something else, suddenly I’m reminded of my blog]:
“Oh yeah: my blog! I love my blog. It is so awesome. I look forward to getting back to that.”
Mood: appreciative.
To be fair, sometimes I also thought about the fact that I never posted about how my solo marathon went, though I had written about marathon training while I was doing it. My thinking here:
“I never updated my blog about how the solo marathon went. Shouldn’t I?”
“Meh. Why? Part of the point of the blog is that it is I write in it when and how I want. It’s not about having to be consistent or keeping up on parts of my life.”
And then, not without a bit of indignation:
“Besides, it’s not like there’s tons of people banging down my door wanting to know about it. They know where to find me!”
Mood: slightly irritated… but what can you do?
I never had a sense of loss from not writing on my blog. Occasionally I missed it a bit, especially when I had an idea for a good blog post. But overall, I was content turning the spigot off for a little while.
I knew I’d be back.
Also, I appreciated having the freedom, not for the first time, to press pause. After writing daily blog posts through much of 2018-2020, I yearned to work on a writing project that wasn’t conceived and completed in a day. After I completed my solo marathon in April, I started writing an account about it. I worked on this project for numerous months. I took several online writing workshops to get feedback and develop my long form writing abilities. I enjoyed stretching my writing wings.
Now I’m back to blogging, as enthused about it as ever. Even when I took an extended break from it, I knew it would be there for me when I came back. As I wrote awhile ago,
this blog was designed to be a) expressive, b) open-ended and without limits, c) free of any expectation or pressure. These qualities have been incredibly helpful to me, giving me the freedom I craved to be myself, to express myself in my own way, and at my own pace.
Serving Its Purpose Beautifully
In response to this, my thinking is:
“Me like-y me blog SOOO much. Thank you thank you 🙂 “
Mood: satisfied, content… and free.