After much neglect, I was inspired recently to revisit my blog.
Hello.
I look at my blogging like a homeowner looks at the attic of a house… but not the kind found in an Arizona house, just so we’re clear. The attics here are unbearably hot and I don’t know anyone who wants to go up into 135+ degrees to find extra storage and solace. Sweat, on the other hand…
No – writing this blog is more like stepping into the kind of attic found in a great old home back east, or in the Pacific Northwest – filled with clunky brown trunks hiding heirlooms and yellowed pictures from bygone eras under their lids. In this attic, dust flits though pale shafts of sunlight and disappears as soon as it passes into the grey darkness beyond the boundary of the sunbeam. This is the kind of attic where you may get lost in thought, read a book, or build a fort and have a great game of pretend if you’re a kid. Or, a kid at heart. 
You get the idea: writing a blog is a pleasant pastime… when there’s time.
Therein lies my problem. This attic, my blog, is built on top of the dominant living area of my house. My attic is the most neglected room, because life, and a busy one at that, happens on the main floor. Thankfully, though, I found some motivation to climb the rickety stairs from my hectic life to this quiet place, dust off a seat, and revel in the solace that is me, my thoughts, and my laptop.
So, now that I’m here and taking a moment to reflect, I’m realizing it’s been a crazy year already. Life down there on the main floor of my house has been so full – busy – and as an entrepreneur, that’s good. Still, we’re only through a month of this fresh, new start called 2010. I do remember saying to my parents over Christmas, “I’m going to do what I can now, so that when 2010 rolls in, I can hit the ground running.” The gun went off. I’ve been sprinting ever since. It’s nice to sit down and stretch out. I do feel a bit guilty: I should be working, I should be planning. It’s 1:30 a.m. as I write this, I should be sleeping.
Upon deeper thought, I’m realizing I’m sprinting a course that is not so different from the life I led last year. Sure, I’m living more normal-human hours and not operating as an adrenaline-driven zombie. But, I’m glad I was inspired to pause for a moment and analyze proceedings thus far. I decided after leaving abc15 that I didn’t want to get back into news. News is exhilarating. It’s exhausting. It’s a very public, yet very isolated life. It can also get pretty lonely in the spotlight: always on, always friendly, yet always guarded: VERY guarded. (That will lead to another blog post, later.)
So, as I sit here in my attic, I have some decisions to ponder. I guess it’s not so much the path I’m on that could lead to burn-out, but rather the speed at which I travel. I’m so excited to try new things, develop a business (or two), explore new avenues. However, I left the news for the chance to slow down enough to catch the scenery life has to offer. I don’t want to miss a great view, or a precious moment. I cautiously want to lower my guard. I also want to spend more time here, in this cozy attic space… filling it with thoughts… and perhaps even some inspiration for you, too.
On that note, I’m going to climb down from the attic now, and into the living space of my house. I’m not going to work, though. I’m not going to hop on project planning. No. I’m actually going to get some sleep.
Tags: abc15, Arizona, blog, Pacific Northwest
February 1, 2010 at 5:19 PM |
As I sat in a small cafe today, I was staring face to face (across tables) with a woman who was in the middle of negotiating some sort of wondrous deal with some other ambitious individual, and I started thinking, Good Lord! She’s stunning. She reminds me of…hey wait a minute, maybe that’s HER! Maybe that’s the infamous attic-dwelling writer who needed to get some sleep after visiting the dusty rafters of her creative mind. No, it couldn’t be, but is it?
Who knows but Jenn herself. Either way, if it was you, then a small world it is, if not, then you have some competition (wink wink.)
The best content is stored in that attic! Next time you crawl up there, make sure you grab something and bring it down with you because the stuff we store in the attic has so many stories attached to it.
Keep writing.
February 1, 2010 at 5:25 PM |
Oh, wow… thanks, Jon! It wasn’t me, so I guess I do have some friendly competition!
Nope. I stayed up in the attic all day today, prepping for a presentation and writing a really long blog entry called, “Bad moves and brass tacks.”
You’re absolutely right – everyone has a great treasure trove of stories.
Take care, enjoy this peaceful evening… and who knows… maybe that will be me in the coffee shop next time. Coffee is my lifeblood.
February 3, 2010 at 7:27 AM |
Everybody needs that “attic”. If you can’t see where you’ve been, you can’t know where you want to go and why.
I enjoy your blogs, you have a real gift for writing.
Thank-you!
Paul