Back (to School) from a Hiatus

Hi-a-tus:  “an interruption in time or continuity: break; especially: a period when something (as a program or activity) is suspended or interrupted” – Webster’s Dictionary

If you’re asking, ‘where have you been???!!’, please know that you have been on my mind every day (well, almost every) since last summer when everyone else was preparing to head back to school.  At the time back then, I thought I would only be stepping aside from blogging temporarily, maybe for a few weeks or so, until I was completed with the intense technical specification writing that I was doing in an effort to meet a critical deadline on one of our commercial projects.  Now, don’t get me wrong, I really enjoy researching products and writing technical specifications.  But, when I say that was particularly concentrated research and serious writing back then, my head hurts just thinking about that again!

Over Thinking

When creativity is affected from information overload!

Immediately after that strictly focused work effort, I was truly burned-out.  I was fine when it came to drawing, designing, and decorating (good thing!).  But I really fell into a creative writing funk and basically lost my mojo when it came to blogging about design, or anything else for that matter.  Really, I got stuck!  My fingers practically froze whenever I started to write a post because I kept thinking too hard about how to communicate my thoughts.  I had nothing, nada, not a single post!  It was as if my thoughts were not fluid and I could not just let the words flow out of my fingers onto the page.  I was having the hardest time trying to get out of a technical writing mode, and all the posts I started to write were so, well… BORING!  Every word I wrote sounded like Charlie Brown’s classroom teacher …’Wahh Waa Wah, Wah, Whaa!’  (aka, ‘Blah, Blah, Blah!’).

A case of the blahs

Symptom associated with writer’s block!

Seriously, would you want to read something that was like a book report on a dictionary?  Talk about a really bad case of writer’s block!  Has that ever happened to you?  If it has, I imagine you know exactly what I’m talking about.  Ugghhhh!!!  I figured that I needed to change my mindset, and to give myself some sort of balance and structure while at the same time doing enjoyable things so that I did not slip into overwhelm or become too serious about everything in life.

Oscar Wilde

Take things easily and be carefree!

 

In order to get back on track, I felt like I had to go to some sort of ‘Blogging School’ to take some courses related to creative writing, and take on various leisure activities to relax both sides of my brain.  So, I made a list of things I wanted to study, whether it was all new to me, or more about something I was familiar with, in order to expand my horizons.  Learn and Grow!  My renewed mission in life to share with you.

Enjoy life

Relax and truly enjoy life (joie de vivre)!

I really missed sharing all kinds of wonderfulness with you.  But, first, of course, I had to plan things out a bit more to stay on a structured and balanced path (well, maybe not so structured and balanced, more like easy and breezy…after all, I was on a hiatus!).  Anyway, I started brainstorming, came up with a few strategies, and then decided how I was going to get those creative juices flowing again.  I chose the following hobbies, interests, and passions of mine to enhance my knowledge and improve my skills through various activities in my pursuit toward greater confidence and an inspired writing style:

  • Gardening (in south Louisiana),
  • Photography,
  • Sewing and Crafting,
  • Interior Design and Décor,
  • Health and Exercise.

No more ‘all work and no play!’ for me, for obvious reasons.  But, with that, I definitely had to make sure that I coordinated with and planned around the work schedules of our consulting company’s design projects.  No problem…that felt familiar.  Ultimately, my goal was to reestablish my ability to convey my thoughts simply and clearly from having been refreshed, renewed, and invigorated by the homework and activities I would do and enjoy.

Programs of study

A pretty course of study

So, I created a (sort of) course outline for this in-house blogging school that I would attend.  I bought a calendar and some pretty journals, ink pens and highlighters, books, binders, and sheet protectors, sticky notes and page markers, filing and storage boxes, fabric, patterns, twill tape, and spray glue, and prepared myself mentally to go back-to-school.  I would not be too strict on myself with precise time frames, though, since rest and relaxation had to be included as part of this self-devised program of study.  It was kind of like I was taking remedial courses, though, and getting ready for real programs.

So that’s what I have been doing.  I have learned a lot over the past year, and am excited to get back to blogging regularly.  I’m currently in the process of creating another course curriculum for my in-house Blogging School, and will be sharing that with you in the coming days.  Meanwhile, to keep my creativity flowing, I’ll make sure to stop to smell the flowers!  Are you presently going back to school?  What courses of action do you take when you need to be inspired?  Do tell!