#MondayBlogs – Starting Over

I used to regularly get a blog out on a Monday, joining in with the #MondayBlogs trend started over on BadRedhead Media. This trend became very popular on Twitter (Xitter??) and continues to this day, yet I noticed that I haven’t been joining in as much. In fact, this is my first personal blog since April. Wow. How did I lose five months or more? Nearly half a year of only writing for work, voluntary projects like Pagan Pages, and the two books I’ve been working on.

I think it’s a good exercise because this type of blogging is not about book promotion, it’s not about selling yourself or marketing… It’s just a way to share blogs with other people looking for blogs. I find it a great way to prompt myself to do something at the same time every week. ADHD, for me, creates time blindness and a fierce railing against routine. I love to be fluid, do things a bit at a time, and that makes it difficult to fit my own passions into a world rammed with deadlines; a world that that runs to a strict clock.

Having an external prompt or inspiration can help me bypass my pervasive drive for autonomy by feeling like I’m joining in with something fun.

Yes, sometimes I have to trick my brain. Doesn’t everyone? (Answers on a comment postcard, please.)

I was actually inspired to start blogging again by my friend and co-author, Debi. She told me she was working on creative writing, and I thought, wow, I really, really need to start writing for pleasure again. Writing is my job. It literally keeps the roof over my head. I love it, and I love my clients. But… I also sometimes just want to write for myself, for you lovely readers, and to get thoughts out of my head into some semblance of order.

So this is me, starting over. It’s been the theme of the last week, really. An important trip was cancelled due to Storm Babet, and the organisers and us had to start over with planning. A project didn’t match the client’s needs. We’re starting over. I cleaned and refreshed the altars in my home after a massive clear-out. Starting over.

These little rebirths, these new beginnings, they happen all the time. You can start over as many times as you like. For example, each week I start over committing to a better sleep schedule. I’m rubbish at it, but I keep going, keep trying, keep starting over. I also start over with how I organise my work or my research. Coming at things from a new perspective keeps it fresh and keeps me interested, but it also improves me. I learn how to work faster, or smarter, or relate to a topic better than I did before. I get more comfortable speaking out or setting boundaries where needed. I learn what actually matters to me in terms of self-care or fulfilment.

I’ve got a ton of work to do today, but the first thing I needed to do was get my rattling thoughts out onto a blank page. It’s a meditative process, in a way; an alternative method for reducing the white noise in my brain. Now that it’s eased a little, yes, I can start over and get back to work.

What are you starting over this week?