An Entire Month

Now it can be told. I made a decision, one month ago, to embark upon a scary experiment--to vacate blogging altogether for an entire month—just to see what would happen. Not only no posts, not even a single step into the blogosphere. No reading admired blogs. No commenting. No stats tracking. No checking my blog for comments. No Technorati or Daypop scanning. No nothing. For one entire month—just to see what would happen.

What would it be like to remove myself from a deeply ingrained daily ritual? Would I feel guilty? Sad? Abandoned--if no readers emailed? (No one did, except Elaine, to announce her return to blogging. Lots of departures going on these days, it seems).

Would I feel hopelessly lost, out of the loop? Would my reputation go down the drain--after a year and three-quarters of hard work knocking out blog posts--even when I didn’t feel like it?

Well, I experienced all of those emotions in varying degrees at various times. Two primary results ensued. First, my consciousness got freed up to address neglected personal issues. Second, I discovered that I really missed blogging.

On the personal issue side, I got to address the fact that retirement isn’t really cutting it. I need the challenge of trying to make some money. And, more pertinently, I need the money. If I didn’t have a wife who’s a decade younger and bringing in some good bucks, I’d be up shit creek, as the saying goes. I don’t have to work, but I hate the feeling of not contributing while Jill busts her ass.

So, what to do? Next installment in a day or two. Meanwhile, it’s nice to be back.