Finally! I’m back to blogging

Many thanks to all of you who are reading this! As always, I am deeply grateful for your company on this blog. Thanks too, for your concerned emails, which inspired me to pull myself together and show up here today.

In answer to your worried questions, I’ve actually been fine these past three months. Of course, from my last post, you know that I had planned to take only a one-month break from blogging. But then, I fell into that dastardly condition known as blogger’s block…

The one month spilled over into two. Next thing I knew, two months quietly crept into three. I started wondering how I could ever condense what’s been going on into a compact blog post. Like writers who suffer from writer’s block, my blogger’s block took control as I over-thought things to the point of paralysis.

So. Here I am. For today, if you’ll indulge me, all I want to do is say hello and wish you a Happy Thanksgiving. Next week, I’ll swing back with a post about what happened to me. Hint on my theme: Love lost, love found.  ;)

But getting back to today’s point, this is a super-symbolic moment to reconnect. I first became a blogger during Thanksgiving 2008. Letting my fifth anniversary pass without a word would’ve been just plain wrong, especially when I really want to celebrate!

Blogging has been an incredible adventure, a tremendous experience. As a reminder to myself as to why I do it, below is an excerpt from one of my 2012 posts entitled, “5 reasons why you need to blog.” These reasons still hold true for me:

Why blog? Five reasons: 

Reason #1: Blogging helps me in reinventing my identity. I enjoy the process of getting to know my online self. 

Reason #2: A blog is the 21st century version of the old-fashioned resume.  My blog is a great marketing vehicle. Google my name and this website pops up. When I interview for gigs, looking Internet-savvy always gives me an edge.

Reason #3: My blog functions as a living room for conversations that help me grow. My readers take time to write heartfelt, thoughtful comments. When I’m job hunting, y’all make me look good. Prospective employers notice the company I keep.

Reason #4: Blogging is a dynamic outlet for developing my passions. Blogging has made me responsible for my own destiny in a pro-active way. Having a website allows me to showcase me on my own terms. Blogging also gave me something absorbing to do when I was out of work. 

Reason #5: Your blog can connect you with people, ideas and opportunities you would otherwise miss. This last reason is why I keep blogging. This blog — and you — have given me profound insight on my life. Sometimes, clarity comes from simply getting down the words and feelings that rattle around inside of me.  

Until I fell off the edge of the earth in August, I managed to blog very faithfully for five whole years. Along the way, there were breaks of a few weeks or a month. There were also stretches where I revved up from a weekly post to blogging two or three times a week.

Looking back, I’m very proud that I slogged through blogging for such a long time. As I sit here now, the body memory of that discipline runs through me. I can feel the blogging energy pumping in my blood and flowing into my finger tips. Oh, yes. I am back. Yes, baby, I am really back!

Okay. A minute to exhale. <Phew.>

Somehow, I will figure out a good post for next week. But in the meantime, I hope you’ll help me out by sharing how you’ve been. Please feel free to write as little or as much as you want in the comments below. It would be great to hear from you since the conversation with you is what makes blogging magical.

If you need a place to get started too, how about this — give us five words to describe how you’re feeling this Thanksgiving week. It can be a five word sentence or five descriptive words or both. I’ll start by offering both:

Love my blog, and you.

And for the five words that describe how I feel:

Skin. Wind. Tender. Wondrous. Surprises.

All right! We’re in business. Thanks for getting me through this post. In the next minute, I will experience the tremendous catharsis of hitting the “publish” button on my blog…

Happy Thanksgiving to you all! Whether you decide to stay home alone in contented solitude or gather with a crowd, I hope you have a wonderful week. xo