And suddenly it is January! An important part of moving into this year, the year I turn seventy-nine in October, is reevaluating how I spend time. One question I’m asking myself is: Do I want to keep writing blog posts weekly?
Writing a post weekly keeps me alert to ideas my intuition provides as I go about my daily life. Paying attention to these ideas is part of the work and is always a challenge. I must listen for an idea that I want to develop, then narrow down the idea to just one thing. Many times an idea I come up with turns out to be too complicated to cover in 500 words – a self-imposed word limit I set so my readers can finish reading the weekly offering in one sitting. Other times, one idea calls another, and another, and soon I might as well be writing another book. This exercise of discerning discrete ideas helps me with other writing projects too.
Yet, I find myself returning to the question again: why do I want to spend precious time writing blog posts when there are other ways to hone the craft of writing?
The answer becomes clear: I write because I want to connect with others – with you my readers. It’s like the time I read a piece about aging where the woman listed what she noticed about getting older. The one item that stood out to me was her itchy scalp. I’ve read a lot about aging but this is the first time I’d read about that particular symptom. You’ve probably guessed by now that I keyed in on this because it is something I experience too. Now when I scratch my head or even think about scratching my head, I remember her. I know that I’m not alone, at least one other person experiences it with me.
I write blog posts because I want to be in relationship with you. When one of you describes how you think and feel about what I’ve offered, I feel a sense of being connected to you. The relationship between the reader and the writer has changed with the advent of social media. Writers appear live on screen, are interviewed extensively, or as I try to do with Exploring the Mystery, interact with readers through questions and answers. When readers respond to my writing over time, a special relationship develops. It’s like no other relationship I experience. There may be some Saturdays that I will be absent but I want to be faithful to you my reader.
So stay tuned! Now that I’m clear all I get out of writing these posts, I pledge to continue in 2024.
IMAGE: Guardian is wondering when it will honest to goodness snow not being satisfied with current conditions. I, on the other hand, have appreciated being able to walk every day on my favorite nature trail. NO Ice!
