So I was looking over my last few posts (as I’d realized I haven’t blogged in a while), and I was surprised to find that in the last three months, I’d only blogged four times.
Just once a month, if you ignore the first of these four posts which was an update post, versus a topical one.
At first, I won’t lie – I kinda panicked. Given (up until the last year, anyhoo) I’d been a prolific blogger, often publishing multiple times a week, to drop to almost one a month seemed alien.
It’s not that it was deliberate, either. I had ideas in my head, words I wanted to type, but things just got in the way.
Life. Family. New job. Beer. And other trivialities I won’t bore you with.
But more than a month since I last published something? Both scary (for want of a better word), and a little sad.
For the longest time, blogging has been such an integral part of my routine that to realize I hadn’t blogged for so long was almost like a wake-up call.
We Continue to Breathe
I used to think that, for a blogger, if you weren’t publishing on a regular basis, you essentially ceased to exist. There was no reason for you to be, if you had no reason to be seen.
Maybe, in a deep down way, I still believe that, but I don’t think I do. Otherwise, would I leave my words dormant for so long? Who knows.
What I do know is, no matter how long you take a break for, the world goes on. We go on. We live. Others live.
We continue to breathe.
In a way, it’s a little sobering, knowing that – as “important” you think the words are that you’re typing – you’re just another part of someone’s day that can be taken or left.
Not that that’s a bad thing. Far from it. Indeed, it can act as a nice reminder that, as connective as digital is, the analogue is just as connective, and right in front of your eyes.
Reminders Are Good for the Soul
Still, for someone who’s blogged consistently for the last 10 years (more, if you include infrequent musings on blogs that are long gone), this hiatus has been both welcomed and unwelcome.
Welcome, inasmuch that it showed me that I still have a love for this medium, and that I missed it hellishly while stepping back (albeit not on purpose).
Unwelcome, in that I let inactivity become a better bedfellow than pushing ahead with the thoughts I had in my head at a time I could have typed and hit publish, yet didn’t.
Plus ca change.
My grandad, who I’ve spoken about on here many times, once told me that our souls are all we have. Our bodies disintegrate, our faculties diminish, and our memories will one day just become dust.
Our souls, though? Our souls are endless, and it’s up to us how we use that longevity. Being reminded of that helps us realize that if we have a message we want to share, we need to share it before we lose the opportunity forever.
I don’t know what message I have to share. Hell, I might not have one at all.
But I do know I’ve missed this platform, and hearing your thoughts in the comments. Perhaps I’ve missed that latter the most of all.
Anyhoo… I ramble. I do that when I have a bunch of things to say, but not the time to say them. At least, not yet.
I guess what I’m trying to say is, it’s nice to be back. I missed you guys. Let’s make the next chapters the best ones.