Thought of the Week: Trying Something New & Celebrating my 50th Blog Post!

You are reading my 50th published blog post, and for that I am very grateful - thank you! I'll also admit that I'm rather proud of myself . . . about a year ago as some of my friends and colleagues were asking me about what this year might entail, several suggested that I should blog about it so they could see what I'm up to during my year off. My immediate personal reaction was to silently scoff at the idea, sloughing the thought off like so much dead skin during an exfoliation treatment. What did I know of blogging? The answer: Nothing. Nada. Zip. Actually, about as much as I know about exfoliation treatments. I'd never even read anyone else's blog at that point, let alone thought about setting up my own. Being a self-proclaimed technologically impaired individual who - here's the cherry on top of this no-way sundae - is often somewhat hesitant about sharing the details of her life with others, blogging was certainly not going to be a part of this year. The thought was actually laughable!

And then this year got underway and three things became more clear to me. The first was an answer to the question that so many had been asking me: What are your plans for this year? I just reminisced my way back to my very first blog post where I worked my way through the answer to that question on paper (okay, on the screen). Here's an excerpt:

Balancing B-G, Sept. 22, 2016:  "As my year off approached, a number of people asked me what my plans were; what did I intend to do? I noticed a slight feeling of unease in the face of these questions. After all, what WERE my intentions?? My mind flew to the 1980's music video of Twisted Sister's "We're Not Gonna Take It" and the father's belligerant question "What d'you wanna do with yer life???" I realized, of course, that my friends and family were only being kind in their show of interest, but the questions seemed to put an air of expectation and pressure on how my year was to unfold and, more aptly, what it was to yield in the end. I knew I wanted to be more present for my family, my friends and myself. I certainly wanted to travel more often than usual, and on a more flexible schedule. I hoped to practice yoga more regularly, to write and read, and basically to do all of the delicious things that I usually wish I had more time for. In essence, I was seeking greater balance across all areas of my life. But was this far too self-indulgent a goal? Should I not be pursuing something of greater value, such as a further academic degree, or a very specific writing project (that classic novel, perhaps?). After stewing over these thoughts for a while, I realized that balance is a lofty and worthy goal. Aren't most of us seeking it? And while it's obvious that a healthier sense of balance will be more easily achieved upon the elimination of a major aspect of my life, namely my job, I hope to glean insights into how I can carry some longer-lasting solutions to the balance challenge forward through the rest of my lifetime . . . My goals for the year are to savour life, quite simply . . . the moment-by-moment journey in mindful, positive and hopeful living."
http://balancingb-g.blogspot.ca/search/label/About%20this%20year

So I knew I wanted to explore and experience a life of greater balance. Check. The second thing that became clear to me was that I really wanted to incorporate my love for writing into this year in a more formal manner than journaling and scrapbooking provide. While these options are a wonderful creative outlet for me, I felt that an audience of some kind would be nice to share some of my experiences and thoughts with. Connecting with people during this year was a priority, and if my writing could be the springboard for some dialogue and conversations, what a great opportunity for additional connections. But - and this was a big BUT - I did not want there to be any serious stress associated with this writing. As in, no deadlines, strict expectations or dictated topic guidelines. After all, escaping those kinds of demands was a large part of what this year was all about. I began looking at a few blogs and realized that they cover the spectrum in terms of format: while some offer daily advice or interest columns in a prescribed framework and on a very defined topic, others are more like online journals. And that's when I began to reconsider that whole blog thing. 

Trying something new can be a daunting prospect, especially when you intend to share that something with others, whether it's with one person or many. I know that I often tend to avoid technology in my life. And I'm aware that this is a two-fold decision. On one side I very consciously try to limit my entire family's interactions with technology. Yes, I am one of those people who has some very grave concerns about the effects technology is wreaking on us as individuals and as a society. I could surely write an entire post here - or an in-depth novel -  about my reservations concerning the proliferation of technology in our lives and what I and many researchers believe are some of the damaging consequences of this propagation to our physical, mental and emotional well-being. Yes, the word 'fear' might come up a few times in that novel of mine. And yes again, I might start to sound like a sci-fi doomsayer; I recognize that this is not a popular opinion. But on the other hand, I must also admit that my discomfort with embarking on projects of a technological nature likely have something to do with my complete ineptness when it comes to most things related to computers. There's a certain amount of vulnerability that's exposed when you venture out of your comfort zone, and oh-boy am I ever out of my comfort zone when dealing with technology.

These thoughts about stepping out of my comfort zone relate to the third thing that became clear to me as this year got underway: I wanted to learn some new things. And while I'm learning a great deal about myself, my family and friends and the world through some of my experiences, connections and travels this year, embarking on a quest to create and maintain a blog for the year provided a very clear learning goal. A trip to the Apple Store saw me purchasing a new MacBook Air. I did not want to be chained to a desktop computer for all of my writing during this year of explorations. So here was my first opportunity for learning: navigating this new piece of equipment, which even I will admit is quite user friendly . . . and yet I regularly manage to find a stumbling block here and there - thank goodness for tech support and handy 'help' features! Then came the rather lengthy lessons on blogging . . . and they continue to this day! I checked out other people's blogs, and then had to investigate blog providers. Set on keeping this endeavour free of monetary charge, I did have to wade through a few lines of fine print here and there, where upgrades and countless options can add on charges. Eventually I landed at this site, Blogger, and went with it. In hindsight, I probably should have spoken with some people who blog to get their advice and input. But eventually you just have to dive into some things, and so I did. Oh yes, there was initially much frustration - some of you who've been with me from this blog's birth may recall my premature launch issues, when I neglected to properly test the 'follow' and 'subscribe' features before putting things out there. Related problems cropped up again regarding leaving comments on my site. Sure, I could've put my head back in the sand and given up then and there, letting the embarrassment of my faux-pas put the brakes on the whole endeavour. Instead I came to terms with all of these issues as being a part of my learning process. And my have I learned - a lot! Plus I really enjoy this blogging journey, even more than I ever imagined I would.

So here's to those friends who first uttered the word "blog" when they asked me about this year. And here's to all of you who've supported me along the way to this 50th post by reading, commenting, providing I.T. support, or showing an interest in any way. I'm thankful to have tried something new. And here's to my next learning journey: an Additional Qualification course on Mathematics - taken online! - that I'm embarking on this spring. Here's to learning new things!

P.S. Please feel free to venture back through my older posts if you're newer to my blog. To help guide you there's a handy menu along the right-hand side margin where posts are sorted chronologically under the heading "Blog Archive", and there are also tabs running along the top of the screen by which I've sorted my posts by topic. When you come to the bottom of a screen, there's often the option to click on "Older posts" which will let you continue further into the history of my posts. I also published a post to try to help guide interested readers and/or wannabe followers through some of the grey areas of following this blog or commenting on a post. Here's a link to that post:

http://balancingb-g.blogspot.ca/2017/01/logistics-clearing-up-some-confusion.html

(I'm having trouble making these links active, and so you may need to copy and paste them into your browser if you're inclined to following them - sorry! Hmmm, at least I'm aware of my technological shortcomings, right?! Awareness has to count for something!)

My wonders: What was the last new thing you tried? How did you feel after trying it? Was it a positive experience? A learning experience? How did this experience make you feel about trying something new in the future? Is there anything new that you'd like to try right now? If so, what supports could be put in place to help you in trying?