How to come back to your publication (blog), promises and confessions
So after a long absence… new text generated from my keyboard appears and defends its own tardiness. Fear not! I haven’t given up on writing useful tidbits or telling stories from my life, but I did just come out of a massive slump in writing while I’ve been working on lots of other projects.
Previously on EACS, I almost wrote about eating every meal in the company of others for a month. I found the challenge itself much more doable than writing and photographing it, apparently. I did complete that with only missing a handful of meals by the way. And I almost started breaking down science articles before I was paralyzed by sifting through the muck to find anything interesting I could actually talk about. And I almost documented more Alaska field work from this summer before the morass of months of work subsumed me and afterwards I already had told the good stories in person so much, anyways.
So what does all that mean?
Multiple interpretations leap to mind. The first, grand ideas are easy, sticking to them is hard, and finding grand ideas that work is even harder. The second, thinking about writing is the ultimate kryptonite to actually writing (per this humble writer’s regular experiences). The last, my own resistance to blogs, social media, what-have-you, of course, obstructs any chance to tell stories in my own way. I console myself with the knowledge that the internet can be infinitely forgiving, namely because of the terabytes of information (digital snow shoveling) that piles up everyday only to be buried under tomorrow’s newly minted terabytes of cultural snow (to borrow a Murakami phrase).
Promises:
The impetus for writing all this is, well, to start again. I felt if I publicly confessed my writing struggles this would be good for everyone and allow me to keep going. In fact, I recommend it. And I DO need to start again because I definitely have more stories and travel advice to give that I’m forever mentally reviewing AND because I am ever-so-close to starting a one year position with the Peace Corps! I couldn’t be more excited/scared. Part of any Peace Corps Volunteer (PCV) sacred duties is to share their experiences to fellow citizens in order to,
“ help promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of Americans.”
So listen up Americans, that’s what I’ll be doing here and elsewhere! I also have some personal experiences about my favorite form of travel, dirt bag style rambling or how to have a blast on the cheap, forget your worries and comforts, and really discover a place, some of my personal goals for travels. I’m excited to see what comes next, while not really expecting anyone to read this. May my failures, weirdness, and learning moments be your gains. Cheers!
