It has been a long time since I posted anything. In fact, it has been even longer since I logged into my blog to check up on it! I don’t think I’ve spent this much time away from it except in my first year when I took a brief hiatus for university.
But, I’m still here!
The truth is, this last year has been really rough in a lot of ways for me (and many others I’m sure). I work in the laboratory of a hospital and while I don’t live in a “hotspot” COVID-19 area, we had our fair share of outbreaks and waves in the last 15 months. Medical Laboratory Professionals are in short supply–and have been for a long time, even before the pandemic. So the stresses of work bleed into my reading and blogging habits.
Add to that some professional courses I am taking for work, my laptop crashing and some other life stresses, time has gotten away from me. I also had some issues with my blog hosting in April so the only thing that really got posted this year was reviews I had scheduled months in advance.
Taking a step back from both reading and blogging has allowed me to reflect on what I get out of both.
Even before the pandemic started, blogging was starting to feel like a bit of a chore. I had contemplated moving my blog away from its self-hosted status for the last 2 years but the hassle never seemed to be worth the very little I spend a month to keep it self-hosted. I just find with my shift-work, I’m forever playing catch-up with things around the house or life in general so blogging is that last thing on my mind.
Also, I just don’t seem to be reading as much as I usually do. It seems crazy to me in a world where people are encouraged to stay home that I struggle to read but I find my attention span just wanders when I pick up a book (or I just fall asleep too fast) so it takes me twice as long to finish a book than it used to. Which, in turn, generates less content for my blog — which can make creating content feel like a chore.
But I still love to read. The last two months have been a cycle of reading and reviewing titles for the various ARC teams I am on and I love contributing to that release and getting the titles I love out there.
And now that the weather is nicer in Canada; my backyard is in its prime; and my pool is ready to go, I’m hoping to spend some of my upcoming staycation in my yard, reading copious amounts of books. Mostly to catch-up on titles I’m a little behind on but also because I really miss getting lost in a book for hours.
I started a bullet journal this year–mostly to keep track of my distance ed courses–and while I’m not always the best about checking-in every day, I really do love the daily habit tracker page I created. Every month I set a knew goal and my hope for July is to get back into blogging on a semi-regular basis. Even if it is just for an hour once a week—I think it would go a long way.
So, I just wanted to write this (semi-)short message to say: I’m still here! I’m just super behind but I will be resuming my efforts to get this blog back up to its normal (ok, maybe a little slower) speed this summer.
Thanks for sticking around and let me know what you have been up to the last few months by dropping a comment below!
Cheers!
~Lauren