This has been my longest hiatus in blogging. There have been several attempts to write a post last year and this year, but I was always taken aback by several factors so I was unable to finish them. My absence in the blogging world, though, paved the way for me focus on other things which are equally important and of value too.

It is true that you will always go back to what you love to do. On my free time, I read my past blog posts and can’t help but be proud of myself for being able to write my stories, be it good or bad. From food, to travel, to encounters with people and realizations — I was able to pull my experiences altogether to tell my readers my story. And so I want to go back to that place when I was very eager to collect my adventures and translate this blog to a repository of memories and lessons learned. I believe that to equip myself with that, I needed to unload some things to start anew. Hence, I aim to expound on the possible reasons why I got distracted from writing so I would be able to avoid them in the future and see where I can improve moving forward. This is not to justify such negligence or laziness, but to be honest with myself and with my readers.

1. I was too focused on my career.

Last year was very challenging. As I mentioned before, I started my Six Sigma project and it required huge amounts of effort in analysis, data collection and interpretation, and implementation of solutions. I would sometimes work on it outside my regular work hours as it was hard executing the steps during my regular routines in the office. Thankfully, I was able to close the project by June 2022 so that was kind of a big relief for me. In relation to that, I got promoted last October 2022 and the additional responsibilities kept me occupied with work. I was enjoying it, but the pressure hits differently. My plate was too full to let my creative juices flow on other things I was passionate about like writing.

2. I got intimidated with other content creators.

On the onset of pandemic (even the year before that), videos started to flourish and became the trend for content creation. There was TikTok, YouTube, Instagram and Facebook reels. I got impressed how today’s content creators execute their stories through well-curated videos and reels. That was not my personality. That was not my interest and skill. Admittedly, I was not a “techie”, although I know that everything can be learned these days. I just dumped the idea that we have to constantly evolve our style to “fit” in with what’s trending these days. There was a subconscious pressure to attach a video to my blog because it’s the “in” thing to do. Although, I have some Instagram reels but they were published in my private account. I can try learning those things, but not to the extent of pushing myself to something I am not really comfortable doing.

3. I don’t want others to see my vulnerability.

Several things happened to me last year including the death of my beloved pet Basti, my family and I’s battle with COVID-19, and my recovery from an accident at home. I was dealing with different emotions that I preferred to be silent about what I was undergoing through at that time. Grief, anxiety, and moving on — these were pretty much strong phases in my life that kind of ushered me to hibernating to a quiet place of not letting anyone know my personal battles. I know that when I start updating my blog, in one way or the other I would release this. So I’d rather not write anything at all. There will come to a point in your life that you wanted to weather the storms alone or just with a selected circle as you know not everyone would understand.

4. I enjoyed things privately.

I went to beautiful places, made new experiences, enjoyed the good food in newly discovered restaurants but not all were shared on social media. I just took time enjoying these things without having the conscious effort to take good photos because I will later publish it in my blog. I would admire other people who have seemed to have a joyful life and relationships even without posting them on socials. I guess I am really getting old.

5. I wanted to post in chronological timing and relevance.

Because I was not able to write regularly, I even missed the constant updates that I usually publish in my blog like my birthday celebrations and year-end reflections. Writing a post about a current happening without even posting the previous experiences was kind of against my will. For me, to travel back to the event and emotions when I have already surpassed and overcome it is no longer relevant.

Conclusion

It’s pretty normal for writers, content creators, and even artists to lose their rhythm in creating a new masterpiece. Circumstances shape us and may even obstruct us to express ourselves like the way we used to. There will be doubts on the road if what you are doing is a worthy piece of art. But based on experience, the burning passion will always resurface. If you need time to find yourself, then just take it. Eventually, you will come back — stronger, bolder, and with a more profound understanding of yourself and the world around you. For you to regain the inspiration, just look at the people who believe in your craft. For me, that is an effective way to reclaim my motivation.