I set this up ages ago and was all excited at the prospect of jotting down my musings for all the world to see (optimistic I know) and was all set to go when..nothing. Total writer’s block. Where do I start? What’s my main theme? Do I have a purpose for writing? Gah!! I don’t know if this is true for other writers but I used to narrate the everyday goings-on in my life blog-style in my head, but then when I sat down and faced the screen, all my ideas would vanish. It was, as a friend once put it, like trying to herd balloons.
I had the material but not the motivation. I was worried I had spread myself too thin; between my ramblings on Twitter and Facebook blocking up my friends’ feeds and my little bit of fiction I wrote on the side for nobody in particular, I hadn’t fully nailed down a reason to offer my two cents into the blogging world. I have an online journal which I occasionally rant on, but I felt this could be more of a forum for discussion on various issues that affect my life and doubtless many many others.
It’s quite funny really. My friends and family always go on about how much I live online, and here I go and set up another window for me to shout out of! However in the long term, they’ll thank me for it. I can keep my Facebook stuff on the light entertainment side, and I can write away to my heart’s content here and if people want to read it, it’s here for their delight and wonderment.
And while I’ve been bemoaning my plight about not having an angle to write from, I took a step back and looked at my life…and you couldn’t make it up. I live at home with my Mom who has recently become totally deaf, and not just ‘if we shout she’ll catch a word or two’. I mean deaf. And that has been quite a life change for both of us. I could write for years about that alone…
I’m also two-thirds of the way through a degree in Primary Education having decided to go back and conquer Third-Level at age 30. It’s awesome but I think sometimes they’re trying to eliminate some of us through ‘survival of the fittest’ tactics. Apparently there’s no limit as to how much work you can do in one day.. :-/
In addition to this I’m also a musician and singer and I write songs. I wouldn’t say I’m a typical singer-songwriter, as to me that conjures up images of folky types, which I listen to non-stop, but unfortunately lack the depth and meaning they infuse in their songs. I’m not knocking my own work, I just know what I’m not!
Being a musician/artist is hard enough, but being a female one is definitely harder. I definitely notice a difference in how I am treated compared to my male muso counterparts…but not all differences are to be condemned..I believe we ARE different, but we are equal in terms of respect earned. For instance, I wouldn’t lift a P.A. just to prove men and women are equal…I’m four foot ten, not an extra from Avatar.
Looking at this and also realising how much else is in my head reassures me that I’ll never be short of things to write about anyway!
Off to eat some manky-gorgeous takeaway food now.
Later alligators..
