It seems to be around November when it usually strikes.

A busy time of year with a looming, yet still too distant end in sight. It’s not me – it’s you, I say, looking my office job squarely in the eye. As for the blog though, pens (and/or keyboard) down seems to be the result. “Just for a short while” I tell myself, though in recent years, it seems to have taken longer and longer to pick them up again.

Of course, I have a very long list pending under the blog post tag, mostly on or around similar topics to those I’ve written about before. Looking at it? Well, that raises the internal question: ”Am I not writing because I couldn’t be bothered, or because I’m not really sure this will contribute anything valuable to the conversation”. I can think of merit to each argument, though a definitive conclusion seems harder to reach.

Having started this blog five years ago, one of the more frustrating aspects is I find it no easier to write here than I did at the beginning – at times it seems more difficult. The biggest challenge? Not writing the same thing over and over again, which I assume is a common foe for many. Deadlines? Well, only the ones I self-impose – which is rare – and they are flexible enough to be bent backwards and turned inside out.

In the latter part of last year, as November arrived, I inadvertently took a slightly different path. As well as not writing, I stopped reading, researching and following. Repeatedly marking all my RSS feeds as read, podcast queue as listened, and rarely opened most of my social media feeds. It wasn’t really an approach as such, I simply realised around Christmas I’d rarely engaged in any of the usual “stuff” at all, in the absence of any real intent to do so. As a result, I began unsubscribing and unfollowing with a certain vigour.

While I’m not really one to think too deeply about all of this, I did begin to wonder just a little about what might be going on. Was I tired of this writing, reading, and following caper – or maybe just tired? Was it time to leave the blog behind and move on? If so, to what? Or was I, if I’m entirely honest, just being a little lazy? In hindsight, I’d say a little bit tired, a little bit lazy and perhaps slightly reordering some priorities.

In any event, as we now roll into May (only six months later!), I can confirm I have indeed missed much of that “stuff”. Therefore, I’ve re-followed (apologies if I’ve missed some of your accounts – I’ll get there eventually), begun listening, and actually read, consider, and capture as necessary what comes through my RSS feed again. Social media? Well, I’m there, however I still find it the equivalent of that person you constantly give the benefit of the doubt, only to be slapped in the face and disappointed over and over again. Let’s say I’ll try and retain my optimism.

Of course throughout this entire time I’ve been poking around here somewhere. A couple of posts have gone up, the pens are used daily, the coffee is still being grown, roasted and brewed, and I keep telling myself I don’t need the newest tech or gadgets. So really, not a lot has changed – perhaps simply my level of immersion.

So November, I see you, I know exactly where you are, and maybe this year I’ll even plan for you. Come to think of it, Summer sabbatical has a certain ring to it. Either way, I know I’ll be around here somewhere.

While these little interests and hobbies mightn’t be significant in the big picture, they certainly are in the landscape of mine.