I process through words

image by Dancing Branflakes

I've been thinking a lot about blogging and writing lately (which I realize is ironic, because I've barely posted anything for a month).  I tried to write, but repeatedly gave myself a pass on posting this past month because I couldn't seem to produce anything with authentic positivity (yeah, it's totally a word).  Then I gave up for a while so I could feel what life was like when writing was not a priority.  I didn't like it much.

image by Dancing Branflakes

I would love to have a crystal clear idea of what this blog is for so it doesn't feel so all over the place, but I'm wondering if that's a luxury not available to me in this scattered season of mothering littles.  Truthfully, I am all over the place.  One of my goals right now is to finish tasks without being distracted by shiny objects, but it's nearly impossible.  Even if I could keep my own mind and body working to completion, inevitably a child needs me for something, and on my way back to refocus, some other job or idea or whatever catches my eye, and the original task is left hanging, unfinished.  This is especially true if the original task was laundry or dishes, or pretty much any job involving cleaning.  You know this if you've every been to my house on, say, all the days of the week.




I read a recent post on How They Blog (one of my favorite blogs right now) by guest Kris Camealy, and was struck by this comment:

Because I process through words . . . Writing is not a hobby for me, it is very much a way of living, and so I am grateful for the pockets of time I am afforded to exercise myself in this way.

~ Kris Camealy (emphasis mine)

I had been thinking of this blogging thing as a hobby, trying to make sure I didn't put too much in or let it take too much from me.  Honestly though, I process through words - through writing them down, to be specific.  (Now, writing is writing whether I hit "publish" or not, but there seems to be some accountability with a blog that keeps me more focused than I would otherwise be.)  I guess this is partly why I have trouble "defining my niche," as blog-growing "experts" say you should do.  (Not that I need my blog to grow necessarily, but it sounds like good advice to know your angle: who you're writing to and what you're writing about.)  My problem is I don't really know what I'm writing about until it's spewing out of my keyboard onto your screen.  (Yay for you, right?)  As for who I'm writing to - um, probably people who already know I'm random and a bit of a mess, so I guess it's okay to for my About page to read: "whatever the heck I'm thinking when my fingers hit the keys."

So.  If you'll excuse me, I need to go add "write 15 minutes" to my daily AnyDo list.

image by Sharon McGill