Traveling More Has Made Me More Exhausted and Has Drained Most of My Motivation
A number of factors have contributed to it but I think my travel schedule has been huge in my slowdown
I knew at the end of my record-setting, prolific June, I would naturally slow down. I’ve slowed down to the tune of writing less than two stories a day now. Many of those stories have even been just a short one-minute, 150-word piece for the Daily Cuppa. Thanks, Katie Michaelson and all of the other great editors over there.
I would say that I attribute that to exhaustion, mental and physical. I already have mighty chronic pain that already saps much of the energy out of me for the day. Now I’ve been having to travel out of necessity to boot. It’s also summer so the higher temperatures are tiring me out much more than they would in cooler seasons. There’s also been more of a need and a time to set aside for spending time with my partner and to enjoy the scenery.
We have been enjoying Genessee County, New York for a couple of days now since we came back after visiting last week. The drive from where we were in Pennsylvania from the place where I killed the battery by keeping the headlights on overnight was about two and a half hours. It covered a span of over 120 miles and traversed much of the two-lane highway backroads of Western New York.
There were a lot of beautiful countryside to take in. It also made me super sore, tired and overheated. I’ve had to make sure to stay hydrated and fed. Even after doing all of that, by the time I get settled where we’ll park for the rest of the day, I can’t help but feel a lower and lower motivation to write because of that.
I’ve also taken so many days off this month from writing. I’d say that the most days I’ve taken off in a month from writing is four days since the new year started. I’ve already taken more than that in July alone. I’ll say that at this point there are little things that have motivated me to continue writing lately that have warmed my heart.
John R Godwin just wrote a story and comment about how I’ve motivated him to write some stories lately and that I “do good and am good” and that made me feel good. John’s story is below. You should definitely read it.
My publications, Digital Global Traveler and The Random Nerdiness Collective are also keeping me going. The Suite 1984 publications, especially The Mayhem and The Press Box keep me going along with Mike Butler, the second half of the ’84 Splash Brothers combo, and too many more to mention in that family for sure.
Sally Prag and Badform keep me going. JoAnn Ryan, Anne Bonfert, and Adrienne Beaumont 🇦🇺 over at Globetrotters have been keeping me going.
I have a lot of responsibilities to many other people to continue my commitments and writing when I can but I’ve learned that I will no longer be able to keep the pace that I had maintained in May and especially in June. I have to prioritize my health, my safety, and my relationship before everything else and if any of those are in danger, writing has to take a back seat for at least one day. I know that I can always come back and write when all is well.
So, yeah, it’s not just the traveling that’s got me feeling tired and unmotivated but it’s certainly the main root of me slowing down as much as I have. I just hope that I can continue to inspire, edit, create, and engage with the community that I’ve fallen in love with so much after I started here almost a year ago. And I have so many more people to thank but as I said before, I’m just exhausted. You all know who you are and I’m grateful for those little victories and miracles every day.
