I was despairing to a friend of my heartbreak of letting go of it. I love my readers, I love the ability to put down my thoughts and have people relate, and I love the identity of blogger that I have carved out for myself. Could I really let go of all of that?
"Write about ice in the desert," he said. I laughed: "What a ridiculous topic!"
The idea nestled in my brain somewhere, a silly suggestion that I would pay no heed to. Ice in the desert - does such a thing even exist?
Then I woke up, freezing. Nestled in my blankets, tucked up on a campus surrounded by sand, the idea hit me. Ice in the desert is the air conditioning being too cold, and the need to wear multiple jumpers when it's 35 degrees outside. Ice in the desert is my community helping each other out, by responding to whatever request pops up on our Facebook page. Ice in the desert is the small block that kept my drink cool as I laughed ridiculously hard last night. Ice in the desert is opposites coming together to make for a life well lived in bizarre circumstances, a perfect representation of my wonderfully ridiculous life out here.
What I'm really trying to say is that I was getting in my own way on this whole writing business. I started this space to reflect upon my life and all the things that I try to make sense of within it. At some point I became disheartened with the low traffic as I watched friends who had started at similar times soar off into success. What was I doing wrong?
I need to get back to where the magic happens: when my meandering thoughts take you on a journey that hopefully we both can learn from. Whether three, thirty, or three hundred people join me on that journey is no matter: This is just my chance to coax out some creativity, and the metric of success should be on measured on my words and not on your clicking. I may reduce my posting schedule slightly, currently commitments are overwhelming and that isn't about to change for the next year, but I'll still be here with my trademark vulnerability, sharing stories as and when I can. It certainly won't make me a celebrity blogger anytime soon, but then again do I really want to be? I'm kind of okay with this small setup, I just lost my way for a while.
So there you have it, a cure for writers block. Take one statement, no matter what it is, and examine how you feel about it. You'll be amazed at the wealth of emotions tumbling out, asking to be shared. For me it was ice in the desert, what could it be for you?
I get disheartened by low traffic and seeing other people race ahead all the time. I've been blogging for 5 years, in one way or another. My name, my domain, my design has changed multiple times but my voice is the same, and every time I've "moved" I've brought that back log of content with me.
ReplyDeleteIt's really hard isn't it? Because naturally you want people to read what you've put out there, and is there such a thing as too few readers?
Honestly I don't know!
Hope you don't let go just yet! Stephie xx
www.acupofcreative.co.uk