Writer's Notes' Third Blogging Year in Review
February 1st 2010 00:01
We've just celebrated the third anniversary of Writer's Notes, and it's hard to believe it's been three years already! The time seems to have simply flown by. The last year, in particular, has passed with almost lightning speed, with so much happening to make it anything but ordinary. Some of these events have been good and others heart-wrenching, but each has been a growth experience that has added its own unique brand of quiet wisdom to my life's journey and, I think, to my writing, as well.
Transformational Events of the Past Year (2009-early 2010):
My Whoa Factor Phase
I was honored to co-blog with Brad Shorr at The Whoa Factor for the first half of the year (having been invited on board by Brad at the beginning of December, 2008). Though that stint came to a halt when Whoast, Inc. (the Chicago firm for which we blogged) was acquired by Straight North, I loved the time I spent there providing content beside a fellow blogger I've always admired.
My Battle-with-Mom's-Alzheimer's Phase
As most of you know, my mother became ill with an extremely fast-progressing case of Alzheimer's during 2009, at which time I became her sole caregiver (still keeping up with my writing as best I could), and Mom died of the devastating illness last May. That was a difficult time for me; yet, it also taught me so much. I won't go into the details of this period here, but suffice it to say, I learned many valuable lessons.
My Minimal Blogging Phase
As I dealt with the aftermath of Mom's death, I decided to give myself permission to blog less without guilt. At that point, I even (reluctantly) dropped my almost religious practice of writing a monthly comment-recognition post to thank everyone who had commented at Writer's Notes the previous month. That was tough to do, but it couldn't be helped. (I still haven't reinstated the practice yet, though I hope to soon.)
Rather than allowing myself to feel the stress and pressure that the need to post new content can sometimes bring, I focused on healing, on spending time with family, on dealing with the inevitable issues that always arise after someone close to us dies, and on writing only as much as I could and only when I felt I could. I still haven't fully regained my blogging rhythm yet, due in part to the residual effects of the topic I'll discuss in the next section.
My Personal Illness Phase
At the beginning of November, 2009, I came down with a bad case of bronchitis, which had me down for the count for about five weeks. As I began steadily improving—finally!—I noticed, to my dismay, that within several days (but before I'd gotten fully well), I began catching another cold, which immediately began moving down into my chest again. And hence, Round Two!
Unfortunately that wasn't all. After several more weeks of fighting the illness with herbal remedies and other natural supplements, and beginning to improve again, I've once again relapsed (thanks to yet another cold), and I'm currently battling my third manifestation of the illness, which seems to have decided to hang on for the duration. (It's been nearly three months since I've been completely well.) Finally got checked out the other day and various tests are underway to determine the precise cause of the problem.
My New Productivity Phase
Thankfully, I've continued working right through all this illness (which was, of course, easier to do since I work from home). I've in fact actually become even more prolific than ever in my professional writing since the beginning of the New Year, despite the health issues I've been battling. So, that, at least, is a plus!
Though I still haven't returned to blogging as much I'd like to yet, I am working on it—and succeeding to a fair degree. (You'll note that I wrote four posts in January--actually five, since it's still January 31st here in California, though Australia time [which is eight hours later] is used for time-stamping my posts, since Orble is in Australia.) This is a vast improvement over my posting frequency of late. Considering that in November and December, I only published one post per month, and only two in October, I feel I'm doing extremely well—even though I may not be feeling extremely well!
My New Outlook Phase
All this leads to my new, more optimistic outlook and the way it has helped my work. I've begun looking at my work in a more positive light, being more proactive in seeking work, more industrious in writing new content, and better able to (selectively) multi-task when needed without stress and without allowing it to throw off my equilibrium. These new developments have all been real pluses and real areas of growth for me, and I'm looking forward to perfecting them even more during Year Four of blogging at Writer's Notes!
Thanks so much for reading!
Jeanne
If you're a blogger, how long have you been blogging and what insights have you learned along the way, either during the past year or in general? If you don't blog, would you like to, and if you were to start a blog, what would you blog about?
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