What it’s Like to be the Writer in Me

“Understand that you don’t have all the answers, you just have to start somewhere and keep an open mind.”

Biz stone

Well hello there. It has been a while. Since March 1st (of 2020), to be exact. There are quite a few reasons for this; let’s tick them off:

• Umm, Corona Virus. I was suddenly homeschooling a 9-year-old and a 4-year-old.
• I signed up to take a 4 week blogging course and that took a lot of time.
• I spent a long time creating 20 blog posts so that I could feel like I had a decent amount of “start” content, so my brain wanted a little break.
• Corona Virus. I was expected to also continue teaching my own students, albeit, remotely.
• TIME! Ack! Work, the gym, children, a house, a husband .. you know how it is.
• Did I mention .. Corona Virus? There is just so much to do now (weirdly enough since we can’t go anywhere) and not enough hours in the day.
• Working on the more set up side of my blog, as opposed to the content side.
• KIDS.
• Trying to master social media – I am still like whaaaaat when it comes to Twitter. (Please, if you have half a clue as to how to “not feel like an idiot with Twitter”, I would LOVE to know!)

And I am sure there are about 50 other things NOT on this list.

But as I was doing the dishes. Again. Doing.the.dishes.again. (Does anyone else feel like that is all they do now that they are home all day?) This post kept pushing at my brain. It was like it had a stick and it was poking and prodding saying, stop the dishes, woman! Go write me down – they will be there when you get back.

And so, I did.

Want to know a secret? I don’t read blogs. I don’t. Not really. I mean, I have referenced some from time to time, but I don’t follow any bloggers (I know, I know – I promise I will start to now). I think I just always found other support materials, as opposed to blogs for support materials. Plus, I am a big book person. Huge! (Ha! Who else said HUGE! in a Donald Trump voice there?!) So, I just didn’t seem to maybe need someone’s blog? *I am shrugging my shoulders here.*

Why all this matters: I really started this, uncertain, as to how a blog was “supposed to look”. All I knew was what was going on in my own brain, and what I wanted to write about. So that’s what I did. What I do. Since all of this began, I have had some conversations with my husband and with a good friend, and they have mentioned not being so “scientific”. Or, making sure that I spend more time rambling a bunch of material down on the page, because, that is what most of the blogs look like that they follow. Now mind you, at this point my husband hadn’t even seen a blog post of mine – he was just speculating that I was writing in a way that was too structured, because he knows that I write professionally most often. And he felt it was taking me a long time to craft a post.

So that got me thinking:

I never ever want to sound too preachy. Or, too scientific. Or, even too teachy. (I am legit making up words as I go along here.) Because that really isn’t me. Well, not all the time at least (don’t forget, I am an actual teacher). There may be times when I have to be scientific because my topic dictates that I be – like, when I was writing two posts about Intermittent Fasting (IF). If someone doesn’t do IF, then they kind of need some of the official information on it in order to understand the rest of the post. But most of the time, I am simply trying to convey my ideas around whatever the topic might be. (Like any good blogger would do. I think.)

And this leads me to my next point – I AM NOT PERFECT. I mean, I am sure for just a moment you thought that perhaps I was. (I’m laughing here – that was seriously in jest.)

But I am so serious about not being perfect, that I put that sentiment in capital letters and I made it bold! An example of this is, since I have been home (what are we on – like day 10?!) I have really not exercised. I mean, I have tried in baby bits: I have walked with a friend a handful of times; I have used my vibration platform here and there (I seriously need to write a post about that machine!); I have done two or three planks and two or three sit-up exercises and two or three sets of pushups, but that’s it. That’s it because before this, I was going to the gym 4-5 days a week, burning many more calories, and RUNNING. (Remember, that thing that I hate?!) I haven’t run since. And I know, that I have most likely lost all that I have worked on gaining in stamina since I quit. It bothers me. I am frustrated by it. And I feel like a slug. But, I am now in the mindset – with everything else going on – that I just can’t or don’t want to. I know that mindset will change eventually, but it is the interim that bothers me. So, see? Not perfect – even when I write about the importance of exercise.

I also do not have all the answers. I don’t even have half the answers! All I know is what I know. BUT, what I know is that I want to be better. So, this blog is here to help me do just that. To help ME be better. What this blog has slowly started to become however, is me hoping and feeling that maybe by proxy, it will also help to make YOU better.

In thinking of all this, it also seemed prudent to mention that I read a lot of self help books. Or maybe I should call them personal development books – that’s closer to what they are and it just sounds better. Personal development is actually one of my favorite genres!

And amongst all of that personal development reading, I have learned that I really cannot stand the books where it sounds like the author truly is perfect. And they 100% do have it all together. Because NO ONE is amazing all of the time, and they sometimes present it as if they are in those books. They can’t be! I mean, this is real life. People bumble. People fall. But you know what sets those people apart?? They get back up and they try again. That is the difference. They don’t let the fall keep them down. And ever so slowly, bit by bit, that is what I am trying to learn too. And perhaps what I am trying to impart to you, through my own learning.

So my friends, I am trying to find the balance. I am trying to show myself the way, and along the way, perhaps show you the way, too. The way to living healthier and happier, in whatever manner that is for you. I simply hope that I can do that gracefully and professionally and in a way that you connect with. My happiest thought would be that we could stumble through all of this mess we call life, together. And know that what this post is really supposed to be, is a way for you to quantify the information that I give you, and to show you a little of what it’s like to be the writer in me.