I have been mostly offline for the past month or so, and especially in the last couple of weeks due to computer issues. My six year old laptop has finally decided that it no longer wanted to work how/ when I wanted it too. Instead, it has chosen to auto-write using only the ” – ” key… ad nauseum. This makes writing anything a bit of a challenge.
So, I found myself unable to communicate much less work on writing projects because of the hardware issue. Working from my phone is impossible because well, it is a phone, and I am also having some eye issues. I need to book an appointment for the old eyeballs soon because since my last hospital inspection, my eyesight has deteriorated significantly. Reading is next to impossible, and fine print, forget it. Being old doesn’t help either, although my eye doc did tell me the last time I was in for a check up that I would not need glasses until I was eighty but things have changed.
It’s a bump in the road. All of it.
Thanks to the generosity of my oldest, I have a loaner laptop when I need it. I am grateful. I wasn’t planning on a complete digital detox of my non-work life but I got one anyway. I have been making things, and reading more. I have a few sketches done for a new painting and a new work table set up in the apartment to encourage me to actually break out the paints.
What I am missing most though is the space and time to write. I have to admit, I have been writing offline more than online lately. It wasn’t because of the laptop disaster but out of a deep need to hold an actual pen in my hand and press it to paper. I haven’t written as much as I would have liked to, but I have enjoyed the pen scratching. Likely that will continue as the summer unfolds, but so will the click-clack of typing now that I have a sleek little Mac book to borrow when I have a moment to spare.
Why am I writing about this tonight? Not sure actually. I have found myself paring back still on what I do share on social media – I rarely am on any platforms any more and have deleted several pages and sites because I have lost interest. I think I would like to focus on one space for awhile rather than spread out over many. Likely it will be this space because I am drawn to what is here, but I promise, it will be less rambling and more creatively interesting. Unless you like babbling, then this post might just be up your alley.
Anyway, my goal is to not have any goals, make no plans and let whatever arrives here arrive. Finding the balance I need between work life and the rest is challenging these days, but I am committed to keeping that creative fire alive.
If you are taking the time to read this nonsense, thank you. I make no promises. I may be back sooner rather than later. I may be lost in a book or two or up to my eyeballs in acrylic paint. Whatever the case may be, I will pop in and share.
la
