Wednesday, August 9, 2017

Lost in the Wilderness of Disinterest

I'm not sure how many of my blog buddies will come by to see this post, considering my repeated disappearing acts this year, but I wanted to post an explanation, of sorts, for my latest absence.

You may remember at the time of my last post on May 31, I was up to my ears in big family events My two eldest grandkids had just graduated from high school. My granddaughter Gretchen was on her way to the high school lacrosse State Championships. And my grandson Drake was leaving for Marine Corps boot camp.


On June 3, the Indian Hill High Girls Lacrosse team did, in fact, win the State Championship. 


I watched the game on TV because I was doing the final setting up for Drake's combination graduation and 'leaving for boot camp' party, which we were hosting at our house. It was a fun, busy, crazy week.

Then on Sunday, we drove Drake to the recruiter station and he got on the bus.


 I went home, finished the after party clean up, gave away the leftover food, and turned my attention to the coming week.

Finally, I had all the time in the world to write, to blog, to work on those overdue critiques, to start re-designing my woefully out of date web page.

I didn't want to.

It wasn't that I was dealing with writer's block or some creative dry spell. I just had no interest. I would tell myself to go be productive and the answer came back, "Why?"

And that's where I've been the past couple months.  All of my June goals for the month because my July goals, became my August goals. I had two shorts stories released in really nice anthologies in July and had to force myself to put a post on Facebook about them. (I did just add them to my right side bar, if you're interested.)  I even skipped the last three monthly meetings of my local writers' group. The only writing I've done since May is my letters to Drake...no cell phones at Marine boot camp, snail mail only.

What does it mean? Am I done? Is my sub-conscious telling me my writing days are over? Or am I just in a funk? I honestly don't know.

I want to say I'll be back next week, with Hump Day funnies or maybe something new, but I'm not sure. I hope so. I think.

You always got an "aw" picture with your funnies. This probably isn't an "aw" for anyone but me but it's all I have at the moment. I grabbed it in a screen shot from a video on the Parris Island Marine Corps website.  The camera only landed on him for a couple seconds but that's all I needed.



I hope this wasn't too boring or too "woe is me".  I just wanted to share what's going on and why I haven't been around. I'm going to try visit everyone over the next few days. In the meantime, have a great week.


Thought for Today:

To every thing there is a season...


17 comments:

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Good to hear from you!
Glad you got a quick glimpse of him.
I haven't written much in the past two years. I think we just go through seasons.

Maria Zannini said...

I think you're still acclimating to the changes around you. I wouldn't worry about it.

Chill, visit friends (hint, hint) pick up a new hobby. I'm betting you'll be back soon.

Stacy McKitrick said...

I'm beginning to think there must be something in the air (I mean, it's August, can you tell? I can't). My writing has slackened a lot and I've talked to other authors who are experiencing the same. Sure hope the air clears soon. Not that I want hot, humid weather to return. :)

L. Diane Wolfe said...

Everything has a season. I'm struggling, too.

Carol Kilgore said...

So glad to hear from you again here. So true about seasons. Just live and listen. You'll know. Hugs.

mshatch said...

Maybe you need to recharge and do everything but write. Binge watch a show or two, read some books, gardening, crafting? Or just go for some nice long walks in pretty places.

Nice to see you :)

LD Masterson said...

Karen - LOL. You're doing your journal, I'm writing Drake letters. I guess we're satisfying the little writing urge we have that way.

Alex - Thanks. It's a Catch 22 when you don't want to be bothered being online but you miss the people there. I guess I'm in the missing people season.

Maria - Ha ha. I think it's your turn to visit a friend, my friend.

Stacy - Hmm. Maybe it's global warming. Blame Trump?

Diane - It's funny, I hate to hear that others are struggling but at the same time it's a little comforting to know I'm not alone in this. Thank you.

Carol - Thanks. I hope this is a seasonal thing. I guess time will tell.

Marcy - Well, that's basically what I've been doing. Just waiting for the re-charge to kick in. Nice to see you, too.


Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi LD - with so many other things going on - it's not surprising there's a dearth for the brain to rest in for a while. Enjoy what you're doing and as the others have said - you'll get back to it ... take care - cheers Hilary

LD Masterson said...

Thanks, Hilary.

Mike Keyton said...

It's good to chill and allow the subconscious to take over. The itch will return in its own good time. It will not return if the 'itch' becomes the dutiful scratch.

I had a similar problem a few months ago. I'd reached 58K in my latest novel and then the impetus faltered. Instead of my usual Ik a day, I was struggling to make 400 words.and then losing the impetus to blog. The solution which everyone is familiar with but which really works - I began a new project. Finished it ten days ago and restarted the novel. The words flowed and I'm now at 72K in under ten days.

I'm not boasting, just sharing an experience relevant in perhaps a lesser way to yours. Real life is richer than writing, but writing will not be denied :)

Julie Flanders said...

I understand completely - I was in a similar place for most of last year and still struggle with it. It seems hard to blog even once a month lately.
Congratulations to your grandchildren. The pic you shared of your grandson is wonderful. Glad you were able to get that one screenshot of him.

Jemi Fraser said...

We're supposed to take Life Breaks when they happen - and we're supposed to take them with all the joys they bring!
You'll know when it's time to dive back in -- or when it isn't. Don't pressure yourself - just keep on having fun :)

LD Masterson said...

Mike - Thanks for the good words. I guess I need to be patient and wait for the itch.

Julie - Thank you. There are parents who have access to Parris Island who sneak pictures of the recruits as they move around the base and post them on the family support page. Then the family members spend hours playing Where's Waldo" hoping for a glimpse of their recruit. This is out of hundreds of young men all with shaved heads and wearing identical uniforms, with their hat brim pulled down to their nose, and if they wear glasses, they're wearing the identical Marine issue boot camp glasses. We've found almost a dozen that we're pretty sure are him (some are taken at quite a distance and don't blow up). The fact that he's 6'6" helps.

Jemi - Thanks. I need to let go of "I should be..." so I can stop stressing myself.

Misha Gerrick said...

Sometimes, I get times like this too, where I just can't seem to push myself to do anything.

My advice, sit back, do something you want to do and then maybe take stock. I found that more often than not, asking myself point blanc if I really want to stop writing reminds me why I do write and gets me back to it. :-)

LD Masterson said...

Thanks, Misha.

Susan Gourley/Kelley said...

Congrats to your grandchildren. They really make life fun and joyful. I've been in funks before and it was my writing groups that forced me out of it. I think if you really want to get back into it, you should make sure you attend that group meeting when it comes around again. If not, enjoy that wonderful family, but I want more of your Wednesday funnies and awwws

LD Masterson said...

Susan G/K - Well, I'm definitely missing the next meeting. I'll be in Parris Island watching my Marine graduate from boot camp. But you're right. I should go back.