When Blogging Becomes Comfortably Numb

I'd say the heat of the summer certainly stagnated more than my will to exercise. With my days consumed with entertaining and caring for my two sons, along with the daily chores that go into running a household, I was short on valuable blogging time. Not that I'm complaining - I had a decent summer and enjoyed having my children home. I am actually a little sad to see them go back to school, a little.  

Unfortunately, the summer just means lapsing the routine that keeps the motivation flowing the rest of the year. While too much routine can be deadly to the soul, a fair share is beneficial for adults and children alike. Instead of having my set days and preferred times to write, I found myself having to steal time (and energy) when I could AND then had to muster the inner inspiration to do so.

The one area I forced myself to stick to all summer was my Friday movie reviews. But in the overall scheme of things, that was barely staying afloat. Book reviews are scarce these days and personal entries have almost completely taken a backseat.  

I wouldn't say that I have writer's block - it is more a lack of motivation, a huge difference. In some regards, you could say my writing has become comfortably numb. Honestly, I'm surprised I have been keeping up with my blog as well as I have.  But this past week I have hit a wall completely.

This isn't the first time since starting this blog that I have felt I've lost my voice.  There have been several topics and life events over the summer that I have been meaning to write about, yet I haven't.

I've been asked to write more personal posts. However, those take the most out of me. So when I am asked why I have kept up with my movie reviews but not the other categories, I say because 1) I wanted to keep some level of consistency with my blog posts and 2) It is good practice as a blogger to produce something even when the mood isn't there. 

For me, writing movie reviews is the best way to sharpen my writing skills because I often (more often than I care to admit) sat down to write them when I did not feel like it.  As a writer, there are going to be times when you need to write whether you want to or not, and the reviews granted me the perfect practice. However, I could practically write them in my sleep at this point - comfortably numb yet again! 

This coming week marks the two-year anniversary of my blog. With that said, I figured it was a good time to take some personal stock and set some new goals in terms of my blog and to shake things up a bit. To hell with being a no-wake zone! 

First, I would like to get back to regular book reviews, at least one a month. Second, I want to continue my Friday movie reviews because film is such a huge part of my life. Finally, I want to write at least one personal, diary-style post a week. After all, that was the original purpose of this blog when I started it. In order to accomplish this, I need to tell myself that they don't all have to be masterpieces. (Just keep swimming.) Maybe I won't even edit them! (Okay, let's not get too crazy!!) 

With a little luck and a lot less pressure on myself, I hope to reawaken the initial purpose of all this - to find my inspiration, step out of my comfort zone, and once again become passionately alive! 

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