This year has got to be the quietest year of blogging on record thus far, but it wasn’t the calmest behind the scenes. There are a few of reasons for this, and maybe you can relate to the struggles of trying to “do it all”.
/1/ the book
First, I decided to dedicate free time to my second memoir. The good news is I did, but blogging took a dive. More good news though is: I finally have a title (that was driving me bananas, trying to figure that out, let me tell you), I received feedback from my first round of readers (thank you!) and have finished going through their notes. I also reorganized chapters, added and took away parts and I’m currently on slogging my way through the last chapter. Next, I’ll be getting it ready for the second round of readers!
/2/ the other writing task
Then, there is another personal project that I’m currently wrapping up that I’d like to share with you, but I can’t until I’ve had some time and distance away from it. I’m not a fan, if I can help it, of talking about an experience without digesting it. Although, I will say this project has complimented my book, involved lots more writing and goal setting. It’s a lot of work, but I believe it’s worth it.
/3/ work + making time to write = insanity
It was also another big year of teaching. I taught less hours, but it didn’t feel like it because I was given more challenging classes. Trying to live the life of a creative while holding down a full-time job (teaching encompasses so much more than simply the hours in the classroom) really split me into two angry pieces. Often I felt like when I had the time, I didn’t take advantage of it, but when I didn’t have the time, I was frustrated that I didn’t have time, and that I didn’t kick my butt into high gear when I needed to. Yeaahhh.
/4/ social media
I started to experiment with Medium and uploaded some old posts there. I was quickly invited to join a community, but I haven’t cracked Medium yet. I’m not sure if this is where I want to pour my energies so my account is counting crickets right now.
Finished another Instagram challenge #gratitude30 from Positively Present. Love her feed. I need to check out her blog. Nevertheless, I’m still working on my #365daysofmagicalthinking / #365daysofmagic which I have mixed feelings about.
I like having personal purpose on social media, but no one is doing this hashtag, except me and this real life magician, so it’s kind of pathetic. I will say though that I find myself wanting to read more fantasy and sci-fi books and I still like the idea of thinking magically, even though it’s damn hard to do.
Twitter has never produced any results. I’ve never found my tribe among the zillions. I’ve done deep purges. I’ve gone from trying to promote others and myself to full stop promoting myself completely. However, I’m going to try to promote myself again, but my Soundcloud account only. I’ve contemplated deleting my Twitter many times.
I also stopped sharing my blog posts on Facebook, until just recently. Part of the problem is my life is an open book on the blog, colleagues and students follow me and I became embarrassed to share what I had written about. Now, I’m getting over “my ideas of what others might think of me” (it’s like I’m a newbie all over again!).
But here’s the thing…
/5/ my life
There’s so much going on that I haven’t been able to share. I’ve been looking back at my journals to discover the underlying theme of 2017 and that’s it. The theme is under-lock-and-key, top secret, working behind the curtain so that when I am ready, I can put on the show I’ve been working hard on. Thanks for sticking around.
How has 2017 treated you?
Life, the Universe, and Lani 
Comments create conversations. Let’s talk.