I love writing.  It’s something I’ve always loved.  And while it took me awhile to get here, blogging has been a way to fulfill a lifelong dream of writing.  But lately, it’s hasn’t been so dreamy.  My blog has been feeling like a burden and I’ve been struggling to figure out why.  I love to write—so why is it a burden?  Why does creating a post cause so much stress?  Shouldn’t I be enjoying this journey more?  Especially since it took me so long to get here?

Somewhere along the line I stumbled across my old foe:  Self-Doubt.  I started to doubt the path I was following. Does my blog truly reflect me or was I falling off that path?  Did anyone read what I wrote?  Did it really matter?  I’ve been here before, I’m sure a lot of other people have too.  Whether it’s my blog, your painting, his teaching plan or her presentation, etc., we’ve all experienced self-doubt at some point.  It happens.  But what’s important is what you do next.  It’s time to step back, take stock, breathe and begin again.

Step Back

Even though I felt it was important to post to my blog regularly, we had a vacation coming up and I thought it was the perfect time to take a break.  So I shared my last post on May 19th and enjoyed my vacation.  I needed to step back to move forward.

Take Stock

I needed to reconnect with myself.  What do I really want to write about?  Why am I struggling to find my perfect fit writing zone?  I originally planned to write about trying new things and I know that I want to keep going in that direction.  Creativity (mine and others) really turns me on, so maybe I can have some fun with that.  We’ll have to see where I take that one.  I like to journal, make lists and fill notebooks with quotes on creativity and inspiration and I love to vacation at the beach! Going forward, you will find me trying to stay true to me, my interests.

Breathe

That’s it.  Just breathe.  Nothing else to do except sit and notice your breath.

Try Again

Trying again takes a little courage, grit and tenacity.  After all, the last try didn’t work so well, so you (I) might want to wallow in that a bit longer.  But now is the time to shake that all off.  Time to brush off the beach sand and get back to work.

So here is my try again.  The re-start of Unfold and Begin.  Have you ever felt a need to re-start?  What have you done to get yourself going again.