Egads, what to write?
Twenty-after-nine on Labour Day, freshly back from the cottage (after a shockingly traffic-free drive), I am one post short from last week—so I’ve planned to write it now (and write another one for this week in a few days—though now that my hours have increased, my morning cushion [which used to serve as a blogging window] is now dedicated to my day job so figuring out when to write will be a new challenge).
On nights like this, and in situations like this—when I just want to relax and when I’m behind on my self-imposed blogging schedule—I start to reconsider renewing my once-weekly blogging resolution.
At first this was a writing exercise; then it sort of became (or maybe always was) just an online journal kind-of-thing, which is moreso what it is now. I’ve never thought seriously about questions like who am I writing for? or why am I writing? And now that I’ve been doing it for more than two years on a once-weekly schedule, I’m tempted to ask why once weekly? or, more precisely, why once weekly still/now? (Though mostly this question’s popping up as a result of this immediate situation/my recurrent laziness, not any deep-seated soul searching. In any case…)
I’m thinking I need to re-assess this activity in terms of what it promotes/gives to me within the big picture of my life. It certainly demonstrates that I can set a reso and stick to it.* It also demonstrates that I can write quickly, often-cleverly, and consistently—though I do harp on some subjects WAY more than others. But that’s a reflection for another post.**
While I’m sure this weekly exercise has helped me as a writer and as an individual seeking to sort things out and engage in some level of self-reflection, I’m wondering if I might not now be able to give myself permission to slack off a little on this front and replace this activity with another—one perhaps more tailored to helping me in other aspects of my life.
The fact that I’m able to, time and time again, hit this “deadline” is obviously connected to the ease with which I can complete it. I like writing. I’m good at writing. Writing a blog post once each week is thus not challenging. I am better for it, but can I be even better at something else?
Another reso that I made but have since broken was to do yoga once a week. I think the reason I’ve broken this promise is that it’s regarding an activity that I don’t like as much/at all: physical activity generally. Or maybe it’s not that I don’t like it (because I do like being active), but that it’s much more challenging. I don’t like getting active (note the difference in word choice here: being vs. getting). I’m not good at getting active. Getting active is difficult.
At this stage in the game, however, I don’t need weekly vocab and blog post workouts, I need good, old-fashioned body workouts. And I need to implement them asap.
I’ve had trouble sticking to my once-weekly yoga (a.k.a. exercise) reso while completing my once-weekly blogging reso; maybe if I drop (or at least cut down) the latter, I will have too much shame not to complete the former (I’ll have the time! I’ll have the energy! I’ll have no excuses).
Consider this a tentative plan, then, to stop writing and start acting.
Starting now.
* Though as you’ll see, my resolve only seems to stick for things I actually enjoy/am good at.
**Or is that another “someday” idea that I will simply put down here and forget about later?
