Looking back over the past couple of months, it’s clear that
blogging hasn’t been at the forefront of my mind. I’ve done the odd blog post
here and there, but to be perfectly honest, they’ve felt quite forced. Many of
them have been halfheartedly written several weeks after the event, and only
then when I have downloaded photos from my camera to computer and been reminded
to blog about various adventures.
Why, I hear you ask? In hindsight, there are two reasons for
this – albeit unintentional- retrospective hiatus. I think my reluctance to
blog has a lot to do with the large number of job applications I’ve completed
(and subsequently been rejected from) over the past year since graduating. In
aspiring to become a features writer, I’ve applied for many entry level writing
jobs at various publications. Like I said, many I’ve been rejected from – three
in particular stick in my mind, as they stated they had 670, 590 and 370
applicants respectively-, but others I’ve never heard back from, left, like
many jobseekers, to assume that I haven’t been shortlisted. In short, hitting
against this relentless brick wall that encircles the world of features
journalism, thus far too high and too thick for me to penetrate, has left me
with negative connotations of writing.
I’m pleased to say that, for the first time in a long time,
I woke up this morning with an overwhelming urge to write. If you’ve never had
this feeling, then I pity you, because it’s one of the best feelings in the
world – I found myself in the situation where the words were forming faster
than I could write them down. It was this experience that made me fall in love
with writing in the first place, and it’s a relief to have it back!
The more prominent, and by far more positive, reason for my
lack of blogging, is due to the presence of someone new in my life. This
summer, I’ve seen more of London than I’ve seen in the last 22 years combined,
and I feel like I’ve had a holiday without leaving my beloved city! I’ve done
things I’ve never done before (trapezing being the prime example). In short,
he’s taught me to live my life, rather than just passing through it from day to
day. And as it turns out, when you’re living your life, passing quickly from
one adventure to the next, there is very little time to write about these japes!
I used to mull over the possibility of new experiences to the extent that I
would talk myself out of them. In the past month, I’ve booked a travel writing
course, a trapeze lesson, a zorbing experience and ghost tour with barely a
second thought.
When I felt my writing mojo coming back to me this morning,
I signed onto this blog for the first time in a while, and I could have wept
with happiness at the gift waiting for me! Despite my lack of new posts, August
2013 was the busiest month traffic-wise that my blog has ever had; 2,987 of you
had a cheeky read! Whilst I’ve never been a blogger who is concerned with
traffic numbers and site hits, it’s massively flattering to know that so many
people have even a fleeting interest in my writing, and had massively spurred
me on to continue blogging with renewed vigour!
So, in short, I’m back. But if I ever go AWOL again, rest
assured that it means I’m living my life, rather than just existing.
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