Maybe it’s just natural that after you’ve been blogging for a while and people have been reading you for a while, you grow a little more serious about the whole thing and you start thinking of what’s adequate to post and what isn’t. I’ve never been the kind of blogger or journaler to document the day to day. I like my day to day. It makes me happy, for the most part, but I’m more engaged by my head in the clouds than my feet on the ground.
If anything gets lost in growing more serious about blogging, it’s the life I’m actually leading where I spend a great deal of time thinking about how I’m hungry and I really need to go grocery shopping and if I could just figure out how to be in two places at once, things would be a lot easier (do not suggest a time turner unless you know where I can get one).
I write most of my posts in advance and schedule them for early in the morning. But, right now, it is Tuesday. 12:29 to be exact and I have 21 minutes until I can take my lunch break. I went to my second job for a couple hours this morning and now I’m at the library. The awesome thing about working here is that there are hours in my day where I can occupy myself with whatever reading, blogging, studying I have to get done, stopping whenever people need help. At certain points in the year, it’s hard to get anything done in that time, because we’re very busy. In the Summer, though, there are hours to fill.
If not for that free time, there’s no way I could manage to work so much while going to school and it’s unlikely that I’d appear to be such a dedicated blogger. This Summer, I’m hoping to use that time to get in some more hours at my other job and to work on those novels I’m always talking about. I seem to have a harder time blogging during the Summer. We’ll see if that’s true this year too.
Speaking of blogging, I’m concerned that I sound like a broken record lately. I’m not uninspired, but in an effort to figure things out for myself, I feel like I keep writing the same post. Well, different to me, but similar enough to seem the same to other people. Then I was at my second job the other day and we were talking about how most scholars have a few insights and then basically write the same books and articles over and over again for their entire careers. People always say this about novelists too. Maybe it’s silly that we expect one person to be so many different things. Maybe it’s better understand a few things really well than to prove to everyone how diverse and cultured you are.
It’s 12:39 now, which means I’m only 21 minutes from lunch.
It’s super gloomy and kind of rainy here in Southern California. It’s a strange way to start the Summer. It’s making it not feel like Summer, but it did give me the opportunity to go running in the rain last night. That always makes me feel like Rocky. I was already planning on returning to exercise this week, but then on Sunday, I was talking to someone about the races I’ve run and I thought, “how did I do that?” In nearly every other way, my life is better now, but I marvel at myself when I used to be in awesome shape (around 2003-2005).
My iPod died halfway through, which forced me to finish the run in silence. I’d just been thinking the night before that I so rarely do anything in silence anymore. Most of my school work is done at work where I’m constantly getting interrupted. I rarely do any kind of writing without a YouTube video in the background or the TV going. I don’t walk anywhere without a podcast to listen to. I used to spend a lot more time in quiet reflection and now I’m introspective on the go. Not that I was more at peace back then or anything, but I miss the quiet. It’s something I have been avoiding. I’ve made it a Summer goal of mine (I did break down and write a list of goals) to rediscover the quiet. My dead iPod just gave me a push.
12:48. 12 minutes to lunch!
Last night was my first real evening time in months. During the school year, I work evenings, so it’s a time I’m not accustomed to filling. I didn’t know what to do with myself, so I mostly did nothing. Will have to rectify that. I have been watching Daria, though, which is as amazing as I remembered. It’s kind of surprising in some ways, especially in that it’s described as being so different, yet all the high school stereotypes are right there. Even Daria is a stereotype. It plays on them all in interesting ways. If I have enough to say, I’ll write a whole post on that.
12:52. Eight minutes to lunch.
Thanks for joining me on a Tuesday.
{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
I hate it when my iPod dies in the middle of a run because then it just feels like I’m running with stuff in my ears and a weight on one arm (the weight being exaggerated in my already exerted state). While I appreciate silence, I don’t like hearing myself breathe heavily while I run — I think it tires me out more quickly on a mental level.
On the brighter side (quite literally), at 2:451 PM PDT we have sunshine back in LA. :)
I have the same fear that I also sound like a broken record, eg. “busybusybusy but stay positive!” But what I’ve learned about blogging the day-to-day, or every other day, is that some days are different than others, and that they frame the favorite lessons we like to re-learn in different lights.
In blogging like we do, I think it’s a good thing to work with nuances of the same ideas rather than with disparate ideas altogether. Even if writers, or artists for that matter, are being consistent in their content, doesn’t that mean that they retain their respective audiences? And that those audiences congregated for a reason?
Food for thought. :)
1) It is the absolutely worsstttt when my ipod dies mid work out.. I lose all forms of motivation. and 2) I know the feeling of sounding like a broken record. But I always always love what you write.
Best,
Hannah Katy
I often feel like I write about the same things over and over. Summer is a good time to refresh and look at things with a new perspective. I’m glad you’ll have more free time to write and blog :)
I think the day to day is fascinating. And also? I have a hard time with silence too. I can only handle it when I need to concentrate fiercely on something. I never used to be this way until I became a teacher. I think now I’m just used to background noise!
I definitely know I blog less in the summer. I tend to be out and about more enjoying the sunshine, spending time with friends, etc. I think this holds true for a lot of bloggers.
It drives me crazy when my cochlear implant battery dies at work and I can’t listen to music on my iPhone. I know it’s a little bit different than having an iPod that dies but seriously…no battery, no can hear! lol
Keep on blogging! :)
I wonder if sometimes I sound like a broken record, too, but I think there’s something to be said for Nico’s take on it; people read you because they identify with and appreciate you, and the things you write about, so they’re going to stick around :)
I remember Daria!
I haven’t blogged in a bit for similar reasons–I don’t even know what I would say right now that could possibly entertain or engage anyone. I’ll work on that.
I feel as if I’m the opposite, I’m always doing things in silence. I have to consciously TELL myself to open up my iTunes or turn on the TV. And I can’t blog when I have the TV on/music blaring. I need my complete attention.
I feel like I write the same post ALL THE TIME! haha. But what can you expect from the over-analytical brain? There are so many ways to analyze one subject… :)