On Blogging: Or how I realised June is a "Problem Month"
Blogging has been useful in a number of ways for me. To start with, it motivates me to be organised, ensure I take pictures of projects, and just simply keep working. After all, if I don't craft, I have nothing to post.
Sometimes having nothing to post is okay, like when deadlines are looming in the "real world" that take priority or when I'm traveling. I don't mind missing blog posts when there are good reasons like that. But then there are those weeks when no post is forthcoming, and no progress has been made, and I haven't even been lucky enough to stumble upon something crafty worth pointing out.
This June was one of those times. It bothered me that you, my loyal 8 followers, would be deprived of my drivel, but it did provide me with new insight. One of the great things about having a blog is that you are automatically given a whole slew of information about your blog and blogging habits. Its how I know that outside of the English-speaking world my greatest fans are apparently from Germany and Russia (who knew?), and how I can unequivocally state that doing blog tours for popular people like The Bitchy Stitcher can seriously raise the number of people who visit your site (like, whoa).
This June was light on content. I missed a week, and two of the posts were what I'd call "fillers"- not really about crafting, and certainly not really displaying any progress. I know why they happened, and now I have an inkling why we will likely see a repeat next year. This June was actually one of my better Junes in getting content out. Looking back at the annals I usually only manage to post twice with at least one year in early June seeing my "retirement" from blogging for a time due to wrist pain.
I've talked about wrist pain here before, although I don't think I've been specific as to what caused it. I have had repetitive strain injuries to my wrists previously which is one factor. However, I also suffer from a condition called Fibromyalgia which, as far as I can tell from all my study of it, is a fancy word to say that I have pain for no medical reason. It is usually centered around my joints and, oddly, my face. My fibromyalgia always gets worse when I sleep badly, and often the first place I feel it coming on is my wrists. Its one of the big reasons I'm cautious with them as prevention is key as it take months to come back down from a flareup.
In not-so-new news, I sleep badly every summer. I have never acclimated to the long days here in Ireland (17+ hours!), and the long hours of sunlight drive me a little nuts. Its the nasty combination of not feeling ready to sleep when its light out and being unable to stay asleep all night when the sun comes up so early. (Yes, I have investigated and tried many things to alleviate this. None of them have worked and I'm loathe to go on sleeping pills for one month out of the year.)
My latest insight is that June is bad for blogging because every June I sleep poorly, and therefore my fibromyalgia flares up. I'm not sure I would have made the connection with this if I hadn't been keeping this blog, but its there.
With this in mind, I will try to be more prepared for next year. I won't guarantee that I'll manage to be more prepared for the inevitable downward spiral, but at least we'll all know what's going on.
In other news, crafting has resumed a more normal pace now that the solstice is past and I've doped myself up on my miracle cure so hopefully you won't be getting filler for a while.
Sometimes having nothing to post is okay, like when deadlines are looming in the "real world" that take priority or when I'm traveling. I don't mind missing blog posts when there are good reasons like that. But then there are those weeks when no post is forthcoming, and no progress has been made, and I haven't even been lucky enough to stumble upon something crafty worth pointing out.
Non-crafty, but contemplative
This June was light on content. I missed a week, and two of the posts were what I'd call "fillers"- not really about crafting, and certainly not really displaying any progress. I know why they happened, and now I have an inkling why we will likely see a repeat next year. This June was actually one of my better Junes in getting content out. Looking back at the annals I usually only manage to post twice with at least one year in early June seeing my "retirement" from blogging for a time due to wrist pain.
I've talked about wrist pain here before, although I don't think I've been specific as to what caused it. I have had repetitive strain injuries to my wrists previously which is one factor. However, I also suffer from a condition called Fibromyalgia which, as far as I can tell from all my study of it, is a fancy word to say that I have pain for no medical reason. It is usually centered around my joints and, oddly, my face. My fibromyalgia always gets worse when I sleep badly, and often the first place I feel it coming on is my wrists. Its one of the big reasons I'm cautious with them as prevention is key as it take months to come back down from a flareup.
In not-so-new news, I sleep badly every summer. I have never acclimated to the long days here in Ireland (17+ hours!), and the long hours of sunlight drive me a little nuts. Its the nasty combination of not feeling ready to sleep when its light out and being unable to stay asleep all night when the sun comes up so early. (Yes, I have investigated and tried many things to alleviate this. None of them have worked and I'm loathe to go on sleeping pills for one month out of the year.)
My latest insight is that June is bad for blogging because every June I sleep poorly, and therefore my fibromyalgia flares up. I'm not sure I would have made the connection with this if I hadn't been keeping this blog, but its there.
With this in mind, I will try to be more prepared for next year. I won't guarantee that I'll manage to be more prepared for the inevitable downward spiral, but at least we'll all know what's going on.
In other news, crafting has resumed a more normal pace now that the solstice is past and I've doped myself up on my miracle cure so hopefully you won't be getting filler for a while.
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