Starting Over
We all have good intentions to get things in our lives accomplished, but sometimes they get interrupted by unexpected events. For many of us we have learned that at the start of a new calendar year we should engage generating some resolutions or goals for the year ahead. Unfortunately, for many they will find that in a few days or maybe even weeks from now, they will have let those plans slip away. Some may be okay with that, and others will beat themselves up over having “failed” to maintain their resolutions. Perhaps we can save ourselves from this experience by learning to see life in a different way.
What if we accept interruptions as something that happens, and that we need to embrace the changes that accompany them. For example, last year it was my intention to be more consistent with writing and posting to this blog. I started off the year with a couple of posts, and then during the second quarter of the year a major interruption occurred. My mental and physical energies were diverted in the direction of another important task, and when it was completed I found myself needing to recover. With the limited energy I had, I chose to focus on the necessary tasks over the “nice to do” tasks. I gain a lot of satisfaction from writing as it is a way for me to process what’s going on, share what I learn with whoever reads my posts, and to chart my progress on my artistic and business journey. Yet, I felt guilty for not getting back to writing and posting.
Sketching objects that are close at hand. A fitting subject and lesson for January 1st.
How was I going to return to making this activity a priority in my life? I was reminded of a book I read back in 2022 or 2023, written by a professor in upstate New York during the 2020-2021 pandemic shutdowns. She focused on writing a weekly letter to her family, in which she describe the activity and changes in the natural world that were going on in her own backyard.
Here was a potential answer for my quandary regarding how to get back to posting. What if I treated this blog like the author treated her letter writing? What if I made it part of a weekly ritual? What if I didn’t worry about content, but simply wrote about what I’d experienced or learned this week? I realized how taking that approach would lessen the anxiety I experience when I think about sitting down to write.
Content creators are told we must generate content that will capture our audience. Who is my audience? Well most likely people who think the way I do, or who face the same challenges that I do. My audience might just be like me trying to learn how to be present in their lives, how to be more creative in their lives, how to experience and incorporate nature into their daily life, or how to build a business for themselves. I don’t need to be like any one else out here in the Internet world, I just need to be me. Isn’t that what all of us need to achieve?
So dear reader, here is my first weekly letter of 2025 for you. If you are finding yourself in need of starting over with something, know that you can do just that by taking small steps. Steps that feel just right for you, that allows you to shed the shoulds that you or others in your life place upon you. Refer back to my sketch and little note I wrote myself regarding the idea of cutting any strings that are holding me/you back, tying me/you to the past, or to things that are not mine/yours to worry about.
Wishing you a good week ahead, and to be kind to yourself!
Maryanne
