It's that time again. We're in the dark days before Christmas, and it shows. Nine days ago, I wrote an enthusiastic blog about my seven years on the blockchain. Unfortunately, that was also the last blog I wrote. I'm not really consistent. How could that happen? The answer is not simple but diverse. Let's dive into it.

Winter Blues and Lack of Inspiration

Aah, there it is again. Inspiration. That magic word. But you get the idea. I completely lacked the inspiration to blog the last 9 days. A few of those nine days it was because I wasn't completely fit for a few days, a bit runny, and it seemed for a moment as if I was going to get a bad flu. That didn't happen. Maybe the dose of Vitamin C does something after all. But it did make me feel unwell. You can call it the winter blues if you like. The days are short, it's cold, and the gray sky sometimes weighs on your mood. Luckily I managed to shake that off, but the next problem came: inspiration. How do you stay original and interesting after seven years of blogging? I don’t want to rehash the same subject like a cow, but in a life where the daily routine is fairly constant, there’s little interesting left to write about.

The slogan “Get a Life!” could almost be appropriate, except that my life is anything but boring. I mean it, I have enough to do. But what I do often doesn’t feel blog-worthy. Walking Skipper, for example, is a daily activity. A shepherd needs exercise, and he certainly gets it. Still, it’s not a walk where I can completely let my thoughts wander, let alone take pictures. Skipper is quite reactive. He doesn’t like it when I carry a camera around, and his behavior makes it downright difficult to relax, and that’s exactly what you need to take pictures during a walk. We are working on it, and I hope he has that as a New Year's resolution for 2025, but that is of no use to us now. And without inspiring photos, no walk is blog-worthy. So that already limits me a lot in what I can share.

Photography in Wintertime

Now I must also honestly admit that wintertime is certainly no longer my favorite season to go out for photography. The cold, dark days do not invite adventure, especially not when you are already in the winter blues. Christmas markets, for example, could be a nice subject, but I have a partner who is not so keen on that. When his work week is over, he prefers to spend his weekends in his workshop. There he works on woodworking and other creative projects. And rightly so, because together we are working on a plan to turn our hobbies into a side business, preferably even our main income. And to achieve that, we will have to work on it.

Priorities

That brings me to another point: blogging simply does not come first. For a long time, I had hoped that this could become a full-time income, but I had to give up that dream/illusion. And that means that decisions have to be made and priorities have to be set. So at the moment, we are trying to set up something else. And yes, that takes a lot of time and energy. We are working on products that can touch people, such as wooden urns, memory houses, and keychains with a personal touch. And besides that, I am working on painting pets, and the pyrography of pet portraits. Everything handmade. That requires attention and focus. Since an income has to grow from that, that work is more important than blogging. But it does mean that I spend less time on platforms like Hive.

Losing Connection

What I do notice is how quickly you can feel disconnected when you are not active on Hive or in Discord for a while. It is as if you temporarily lose your place in the community. And that last part is a real shame, I appreciate the interactions and sense of connection that these platforms can provide, but at such a moment you are confronted with the facts. If you are less present for a moment, you immediately lose the connection. For me 10 others. I hope that this feeling of disconnection is not permanent. Life has seasons, and sometimes you have to set priorities that distract you from your normal routine.

Finding the Balance

The most important thing is that I do not feel guilty about my absence. Inspiration comes and goes, just like energy and motivation. The key is to remain flexible and accept that it is okay to take a step back now and then. Hive remains a valuable platform for me, even if I am not always active on it. And I know that inspiration will eventually return, perhaps at the moments when I least expect it.

For now, I'll just keep walking with Skipper, working on our creative plans, and yes, I'm trying to pick up blogging again. We'll see; maybe it's enough. In any case, I intend to share something valuable when I write.

^{All photos are mine}