New Words for a New Year

I did something today that I haven't done in months.

I crept into my blog and looked at the stats. In the past, this was something that I did several times a day, pushing the "refresh" button to see how many visitors had stopped by my site and from whence they came.

In my past life, checking stats invigorated me, and seeing good stats or- glory be!- a comment, could spur me on to writing and publishing the next post. It shouldn't surprise me, then, that it had a similar effect on me today.

I would have thought that after this long stretch of neglect, the lines showing the amount of visitors to my site would be rather flat. After all, if the author can forget about her blog, certainly the audience has forgotten it as well. But no, there they were, numbers that puzzled and surprised me. Numbers that fanned a low burning flame.

It was time to get back to writing.

The only problem is where to start.

It has been 15 months since I last published a post, and during that time, as they say, a lot of water has gone under the bridge.

During that time, we did indeed sell our house and move across the street!

We saw one school term through to the finish, and started another one: in a new school room.

We washed dishes, put laundry down the chute that came compliments of the new house, and made many a meal in the Instant Pot.

We laughed over the funny things children say, cried over the naughty things children do, and grew a few more white hairs with the combination.

We made countless cups of tea to sip while we read the words other people have written in books and blogs.

We did not write.

I cannot say why, because I do not fully know.

Maybe the time it takes to write and publish is prohibitive. Maybe it's hard to know how to be honest without creating casualties. Maybe the well of inspiration was bone dry. Maybe I would rather be reading.

To some extent or another, all of the above are true and I am still trying to figure out what my voice is as a writer and how to use it.

In any case, it is a new year and I have some new goals. One of the goals nearest and dearest to my heart is to write more and to write better in the coming year. I don't know how all that will pan out, or where all I will spread my words, I only know that the need to write has become a force to be reckoned with.

I only know that I am starting here, today, and going from there.

Join me?

My stats would appreciate it.

*Photo credits to my sisters-in-law, Elizabeth Bercot and Abigail Nolt!