You know that feeling when sometimes life and work just get away from you? I think it’s been that kind of a month for me. Redecorating a bathroom, publishing a white paper, plotting marketing strategy, shuffling blogs between web hosts…it seems like all have conspired to keep me from my commitment to writing at least one post each week on Tuesdays. And I miss it, the regular writing that is. I’ll see if I can get that straightened out in the not-too-distant future.

I’m reminded that writing is not only something I love to do, but indeed work, and I’m trying to keep four blogs going on a fairly regular basis; i.e., a lot of work. But it’s really a matter of balancing commitments and priorities between work and home life. There aren’t any easy answers to that challenge. But a lack of balance leads to a lot of distraction and then nothing good happens at work or at home.

Does that happen to you? I suspect most people deal with a lack of balance and motivation from time to time. I found that active participation in the sandwich generation before our recent shift to empty-nesting often brought on the feeling of things getting away from me and the subsequent lack of motivation and need for recharge time.

One of my favorite bloggers, Becky at Interstellar Orchard, recently posted about self renewal and her need for alone time to recharge. Cherie at Technomadia also mentioned the need she and Chris have for quiet and distance to recharge. I find I’m much the same in that I need that quiet separation to renew and recharge. Without that time my writing becomes labored and lacking in interesting or compelling messages. Enthusiasm wanes and it becomes hard to write anything at all. That’s the time to step back from the keyboard, turn the computer off for awhile and let the mind wander to places it hasn’t visited for a time.

I’ll be doing a little more of that over the next three weeks or so. At the same time D and I are tackling a new project which will remain rather hush-hush for now. Don’t worry; we’ll let you know how it works out when the time is right.

Meanwhile, fear not. The writing fire is not dead; I’ve banked it as the pioneers used to do, to keep the coals ready while I rest. Fresh thoughts will stoke the fire and purposeful pondering will return to these pages soon, so keep checking in.

Recharging and refocusing…Pops