I decided to take a break from Slicing, and a month went by in the blink of an eye.
The week that I decided to take a break, I was drowning. I had been sick the weekend before with God-knows-what infection (tested negative for strep, flu, and COVID). I had to get better quick, because my son graduated from college the weekend after. In between, I had a Zoom author visit to host and end-of-semester library checkouts to manage, as well as the detective work involved in chasing down overdue books. I missed a fabulous monthly librarians' meeting on Monday (hadn't been fever-free for twenty-four hours yet), and spent three hours on sub plans for Friday, when we left for Denton to prepare for our son's 8a Saturday graduation.
So yeah, a Tuesday Slice wasn't a priority that week. Nor was it the week after, as I prepared for our read-aloud marathon and book giveaways and the usual end of semester chaos. Or the week after that, on Winter Break, when I was either zoning out on NORAD's Santa Tracking arcade games, Jacquie Lawson's beautiful Advent calendar, or cleaning in a mad rush to make the kids' rooms livable for their holiday return. (On a tangential note, have any of you empty nesters noticed your stuff spreading out into the no-longer-regularly-occupied bedrooms in your house?)
You would think the week after Christmas, I would have had something to write about. A Christmas memory, perhaps, or the cute antics of my new grandpuppy.
There were sweet moments, and we had a lovely family holiday. I was still too tired to write. But the nagging guilt was gently tugging at my conscience, to put my "butt-in-chair", as some of my favorite local authors refer to the physical act of placing oneself before a blank screen or page and have at it.
Which is what I've done this Monday evening. Nothing epic here, nothing particularly memorable...but I put my patookus in the office chair, my fingers on the keyboard, and words on the screen.
Whew.
Taking breaks from blogging is so natural, and sometimes necessary. I have discovered over the years that SOL community is patient and caring and always happy for people to return, no matter how long the break was. I have stopped feeling guilty when I don't blog. Happy new writing year!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Terje. I hadn't taken a break in a long while, and I really didn't intend for this one to last so long. You're absolutely right--this community is full of grace!
DeleteI am right there with you. I used to blog about books daily. But for the last year, all I could manage was Slice of Life Stories. I have skipped a month of Tuesday blogging - and was inconsistent for some months before that. I am wondering what I am going to do come March. Maybe your post is the little voice I needed to hear to get my mojo back.
ReplyDeleteI blame pandemic weariness, Adrienne. And I haven't even thought about March--yikes! I need to get that mojo running strong for the Challenge--thanks for the reminder.
DeleteSo glad to see you back again, Chris. Also very thankful that you tested negative for all those horrible bugs. Breaks are good things, even from writing...I call it "replenishing." Congratulations on your son's graduation and the grandpuppy! (Might it be a dachshund??) Happy New Year to all!
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