“Now is the winter of our discontent”
— William Shakespeare, Richard III
In September and October of 2019, I embarked on a road trip, first through Michigan crossing over the UP, then back to Chicago via Wisconsin. I soon repacked and prepared for an excursion to Springfield, Illinois, the Lincoln Museum, and a tour of southern Illinois, Shawnee National Forest, with various stops on the way back, including Metropolis — the home of Superman. I secured mementos, took notes and photos, and upon my return, was fully prepared to document the entire adventure on this blog.
But the blog fell silent.
At first I figured it was just the result of decompressing and getting back to normal, and that maybe then it was the holidays that distracted me. And then Covid shut me down. It is amazing how busy you can be being busy doing nothing. These times can play with your brain and your energy, and I shut down. But I’ve done a lot of introspection and self-evaluation, so it’s not all bad, except the not blogging part.
Initially I judged myself harshly for not being productive and halting posts on this blog. It took me about a year originally to get it going, and at least a modicum of dedication to keep it going, and I was disappointed, then befuddled as to why, with all of this additional time on my hands, I had just shut down. But then I thought of lessons and learnings from the creativity world that I will share with you here upon renewing posting. There are at least three relevant to taking time off from toil:
In sum, I wouldn’t recommend taking 18 months off from a task, unless it’s ongoing and longterm — like maybe a relationship or a huge architectural project, or putting together the Oxford English Dictionary* or something like that.
But I am back, and look forward to getting these posts cranking again. As I gear up, my perspectives learned have me wanting to be more brief, have more fun, use more humor, and provide more pith to stimulate your thinking more meaningfully and in a more useful and daily applicable way.
These are tough, uniquely challenging times. I wish you well as you weather them and hope you wish me the same.
And so, here we go again!
“In the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer. And that makes me happy. For it says that no matter how hard the world pushes against me, within me, there’s something stronger – something better, pushing right back.”
— Albert Camus
* See the film “The Professor and the Madman”