Dreaming Beneath the Spires

Anita Mathias's Blog on Faith and Art

The Tired and Whiny Blog Update

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I am afraid there is going to be a bit of a blog slowdown until the 25th July.

I suddenly realized a couple of days ago that I was really, really tired–not physically, just mentally.

We had bought tickets and rented a motor home for a holiday exploring Sweden in mid-August. Why Sweden? Because we loved exploring Norway in 2009–one of our favourite family trips–and because I have always been fascinated by Scandinavia (I was obsessed with Norse mythology as a child).

But that’s mid-August, and I am feeling burnt-out now. You know the sort of burn-out, when you wake up tired, when even writing a blog post seems to demand powers of concentration you no longer possess. When your brain feels a bit mushed and compressed, as if a giant has been sitting on it.
                                                * * * 

How does one reset one’s brain? For me, one thing always works, and that is travel. If I am slightly jaded, going away for a day or two refills me with enthusiasm; if really tired, it can take 3-4 days, or longer if I’ve been really overdoing it.

Can’t travel next week, as it’s Irene’s last week of school, though I may take some day trips (Wisley, Kew Gardens, National Trust Gardens).

The week after that, Zoe is going to the invitation only Arvon Creative Writing weeks for teens. I would rather have gone as a family, but Zoe, at 16 is doing her own thing more and more (she went to the Lake District with friends last week, is going to Arvon in Shropshire next week, then back to the Lake District for another week, then to India in the last week of August). So we are increasingly travelling without her. For instance, she chose to go to Rome with friends in October, and the three of us went to Prague.

So, with a bit of guilt at 2 holidays in one summer, I’ve bought tickets for Strasbourg week after next, flying in to Basel (for just the three of us, sans Zoe). I’ve long wanted to see Strasbourg–and since’s it’s equidistant from Switzerland, Germany, Italy and the rest of France, might do a bit of cross border hopping. Excited.

Of course, I am not going to leave for 9 days. I think I am going to take life easy, just write for 15 minutes at a time, and catch up with garden chores, and the usual book purging, room decluttering, paperwork sorting activities that are a necessary part of life.

I have a couple of writing projects which I want to wrap up before I go, so this blog is going to go into slow motion for the next couple of weeks. I may not write much, but will share the many links from other blogs which I had bookmarked to share at some point. And why not now?

So truncated service for a while. Regular programming will resume on July 25th. Like a lot of people, I’ve realized that I have been spending too long on my blog, and am going to cut it back to 30 minutes a day, and shorter posts to leave time and mental energy for other writing.

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Comments

  1. Thanks Harriet, Nancy and Rhoda. Yes, Rhoda, I keep setting limits and boundaries, but blogging does suck you in–reading other people's posts as much as writing your own. Am enjoying a brief break from it!

  3. Hi

    I have been reading your blog on and off for the past year. I am hardly a voracious reader and especially stay clear of the main aisle at Barnes & Noble. Being a south Indian woman I wanted to read something written by a (fellow ?) Indian, and found your site. Your essays made me laugh and cry. Very often I will read them out loud to my husband and we laugh. They are frank and clever and comforting. I just got back from a book launch – a novel set in a boarding school in western India – absolutely frightful. The storyline/plot was okay, but I wish you had written it instead. I must stop rambling now, it is sun morn here ….:-). Have a good one.

  4. It's so easy to get sucked into spending more time on blogging isn't it! I hope you have a wonderful holiday, and even if you write less I will still enjoy your posts I'm sure 🙂

  6. Enjoy the slow down process – it will make the break away so much better. I have just crawled my way to the end of term and will now enjoy a slow week before going away. Anticipation of a trip surely adds to to the enjoyment of travelling. Strasbourg – what an interesting place to visit.

  8. Sounds like the perfect reset to me! Have a fabulous time, Anita!! Does the whole family get to go, or is this trip minus Zoe? Enjoy every minute…