I’m back, but this time I’m asking questions.
I took some time off from blogging to ponder what’s next. What’s next for me in fiction? What’s next for me in my freelance writing work? What’s next for me in LIFE? And the more I pondered—the more time and space I gave myself to wonder what’s next—the more I questioned everything. All my expectations, plans, and desires were suddenly peppered with question marks. Everything is up in the air.
I’m back, but I’m still asking questions and we’ll see where this new approach takes me. I could abandon it and reboot OR I could continue to live in this muddle of uncertainty and see what comes out of it. I’m curious. Are you?
The reason for this strange turn of events is obvious—the many major strange turns of events in the world in general and the impact on my little corner of the world has been huge. Just when I was allowing myself a sigh of relief, just when the pandemic seemed to be waning, when Tango dances and theater tickets and visits from friends around the world began to fill my calendar and plans for my own travels moved from daydreams to plans worth talking about, the new virus variant emerged and… a new phase of semi-hibernation began.
Here we go again. Not exactly… This time we’re wiser and, I hope, better prepared. The changes we all made in 2020 and 2021, the compromises and the patience required to get anything done changed all of us. What will 2022 bring? I don’t know. I do know that I’m going to start the year taking a serious look at the short stories I wrote in 2020 and 2021, the novels (and novel ideas in fermentation) and do my best to look at them with a new perspective. What monsters will I conjure? What monsters will I let loose in this crazy, new pandemic/post-pandemic world?
Welcome to 2022—the year starting with questions.
Well I know I’m looking forward to reading more of your stories!
Funny that you should respond! I read two of them out loud (to myself and the cats) today and I may need a consult. Wondering what I should do with my “pandemic stories” as they are grounded in a shared experience. It’s an interesting phenomenon.
Here’s to pondering and changing things up! It’s abundantly clear to me that I will never write so long as I’m in the classroom. Oh well, it’s been “interesting” to return during a pandemic, and now I am plotting my exit.
I think you’re right! Writing requires time & space. It doesn’t share all that well. Plot your EXIT plan from the classroom and toward writing again.
Nice to see you back too, Jeri. I think the one good thing this pandemic has done is make us all reassess what we want from life, and how we want to live it.
I’m glad you’re back, Candy, and questions are always good. 🙂
Absolutely! We may look back on this as a time of change——mindful, intentional change——and that’s bound to lead to interesting decisions.