by Judy
Every two weeks. Just every other Thursday. Only twice a month. That's my schedule for posting here at Focusing On Life. That's very doable. However, it seems that more times than not, I am struggling to figure out what to write about.
As my turn approaches I lament that I don't have any ideas for my post. I have no photos to use for my post. Nothing is coming to me. What am I going to do? As I verbalize these worries I've had people - loved ones who will remain unnamed - ask me, 'why do you do this? This blog is not something that you have to do...if it's too much for you, then just quit.' Just quit?? Why don't I just quit?
Well, first and foremost, I don't quit because I love this group. We call each other sisters, and that is truly how we feel about each other. Each of us is different, and we bring different perspectives to this blog, and I think that makes this little place on the world wide web just that much more special. I can't imagine not being a part of this group - I would miss everyone here so much, and that includes all of you who visit us each day, supporting us with your comments. We have a great community of people here.
Why do I do this? Writing these posts is a challenge, and a wonderful challenge. (Although when it's crunch time and still no post idea has come together, that doesn't feel so wonderful.) However, if everything came easily in life, then how would we grow? Being challenged makes me work harder. Not only do I want to write a post that appeals to many of you, I want to write a post that my FOL sisters will feel is 'good enough.'
Why do I do this? I do this because in 'my other life' I am a very left-brained person. I deal with numbers and analysis, and lists and lists of things. Boy am I good at lists, but that's for a whole other post. When I write here I get to use the right side of my brain. I get to be creative. I get to use my imagination and intuition. I get to lose myself in a photo shoot, looking for just the right shot to accompany my post. Ahhh, yes, writing here is almost like a little vacation for my numbers/policies/procedures brain.
Isn't it funny that there are things in our lives that come easily to us, that we perform on auto-pilot, and then there's these things that we struggle with, but that fulfill us in a way that makes us not want to give them up? That fulfillment is what makes us push through the discomfort and the insecurity and just do it.
I truly feel that my time here is an invaluable tool in my personal creative journey. Without my twice a month posting schedule, I could easily push writing aside. I could easily wait for the perfect weather to shoot some photos. I could easily use my time to clean a closet, or run to get groceries. Instead, my twice a month posting schedule keeps my camera in my hands, looking for just the right photo for the blog. My twice a month posting schedule keeps me thinking the rest of the month, searching my surroundings for ideas, copying quotations that I love that may work for a future post, reading articles on art and photo tips, and visiting museums and spending time with other creatives.
What do you do, every day, or maybe every week, that doesn't necessarily come easily to you, but that you love to do? What do you do that takes you out of your comfort zone, but that once you're there, you realize that it's exactly where you need to be?
