As I flip the calendar to a new month, I am reminded of my past practice of crafting a post a day for the month of May and then suddenly my emotions range from excitement to responsibility to terror. Excitement, as I love the sense of accomplishment of setting a goal and reaching it; responsibility, as I have preached over the years about the power of professional reflection, the bravery of making one’s practice public and the importance of modeling the productive struggle of writing as a means of supporting our students as authors; and finally (and most predominantly) terror as I’m painfully aware that the cognitive muscles required to craft anything substantial are currently cowering in the corners of my incertitude mind.
So, here is to coaxing those muscles back into the game of personal and public reflection. I wonder if professional athletes go through the same range of emotions as they begin spring training. I have no doubt that what lies ahead in the upcoming days will be late nights staring at a blank screen ~ fearing the clock will strike midnight before the Publish button is selected, shuffling multiple post-it notes as they clutter my desk with potential ideas, and spending time scouring through my multiple notebooks which I know are filled with asterisks beside the word “blog” in the margin as a reminder that at some point, I wanted to capture that moment and share it.
I also know, if history repeats itself, there will be a heightened sense of observation throughout my day, moments of reflection that I will undoubtedly untangle and dissect and rabbit holes of research to be discovered as I look for references, word choice and of course the “just right” visual. My social media feeds, television shows/movies and book consumption will shift to a more critical eye. My family is also certainly preparing themselves for the possibility that Sunday dinner conversations or childhood memories may trigger an idea and hence be woven into a post or two.
Time to flex those frontal and temporal lobes. Let the spring training begin. I wonder what the writer’s version of the Grapefruit/Cactus League might look like? Yes, I ventured down a rabbit-hole.
Do you have annual goals that you set for yourself? Would love to have you share.
Come write with me….
Sue, Sue, Sue…there is so much that resonates with me here. Beautiful writing my friend, it sucked me right in and I felt every line.
I often reflect on my abandonment of blogging during hard times, or busy times, or feeling great times. I think about where the block started, why I’ve stalled, what might inspire me to return, what is brewing in my belly, what do I need or want to say…etc.
Yes! When you’re back in the saddle of writing , your see every aspect of your world in these intentional and visceral ways. I love how beautifully you have captured that.
I’m not sure if I have annual goals at this time. I don’t think of goals in yearly cycles so much as I do in terms of setting goals and deciding the approach to achieving them. But…I like the idea of an annual routine. I could see how this level of commitment to something would be both daunting and rewarding at the same time. Thanks for inviting me to think about this more.
This post has definitely shaken the dust off my blogging brain just a week bit.