Call me crazy, but I'd completely forgotten about my verbal wanderings on Blogger!
Yes, its been something like 18 very long months of absolute neglect. No apologies can be offered.... and very little explanation provided why something I used to enjoy doing became so profoundly lost upon me and my minute band of humble blog followers.
When I started this blog spot, it was at a time when two pretty important things were happening. My original intent was to use Blogger as an outlet for creative and expressive writing, which I have always enjoyed immensely. In fact, in the good old days, I even got paid for contributing articles to publications and online web zines........... but that was in the nursery age of social media platforms and the like.
So, what were those two things that completely stopped all forward progress on this blog spot?
Anyone who knows me understands that my daddy day care duty was all consuming, enjoyable as it was. After the birth of our two youngest kids, the simple truth was that luxuries like hours on the keyboard quickly became a thing of a gloriously relaxed past! Having two kids just 20 months apart and who are now about to turn 2 and 4 respectively literally turned life - and my proverbial literary world - upside down, in a fun, doting and rewarding way. Eventually, as push went to shove, our needs changed, the old chook resumed work from maternity leave, I picked up more work and well, for those of you who do have kids its easy to understand that needs always supplant wants.
The other phenomenon that drew my attention was social media. Yes, good old Facebook, the much maligned and even ill tolerated platform that I once despised grew upon me. Sure, the early versions of Facebook didn't give much scope for rabbiting on in lengthy blog-fashion, just like here in wonderful Blogger-land! But more and more, as I use pages like Facebook, I realise that they can be a far superior way to shape, influence and get your message across than sometimes lesser read blog sites (hopefully not THIS one!!!). God forbid, I actually now enjoy the social intercourse and rapidity of message sharing that Facebook has provided... and this little red duck ain't afraid of no Internet ghosts!!
In our camp, the kids are now slowly getting the notion of growing independence and their new-found skills have given them the ability to require a little less attention than they did when they were babies. With that growing sense of freedom, we've been able to do more things that we like and seem to be getting back to being able to fit more into our day. We've learnt that some routines work better than others and have enjoyed applying efficiencies that keep the family on track.
Maybe its a delusional flight of fancy, but the "feeling" of having a little more time and control over our life has brought me back to Blogger. And with all that has been happening in the world, I must say that I have had an increasing sense of restlessness, an almost insatiable desire to start contributing again to the greater social consciousness that exists via the Internet. In this rapidly changing world, INFORMATION is the catalyst to all change. We are all living now in a time unlike any other, where the entire fabric of information and communication is changing for the better. Action across the globe now emanates from the tiniest single flutter of a butterfly wing across somebodies keyboard.... and surely that is a good thing!
So, dear reader(s), its time to get back into it. Its time to break the silence. My online narrative may not be everybody's cup of tea, but its mine nevertheless. This will be my story, my opinion and hopefully sometimes I might just make enough sense to influence one or two people along the way. Of course, I intend to keep the content varied, from personal anecdotes to hopefully more racy commentary - let's just wait and see. And for all the haters and critics out there who think that the land of blog is all about stroking personal ego, you just rest easy in the ignorant comfort that NOT sharing your thoughts will ever do one damn single thing to change the world we live in!
Until next time, let me just say, "it's good to be BACK!"!!!
Hodgie
