first things first

The first of January, the first day of a new week, month and year.

The first post for some time. It is strange to be back, I don't think I've ever had such a lengthy absence from blogging since I started, and I'm not altogether sure what happened. I suppose it was the realities of returning to work, balancing being a professional and a parent and the myriad of minutiae inbetween that insidiously absorb time until suddenly whole months have passed. In another way, though, I never really stopped. I have taken so many pictures, captured so many moments, written so many words in recent months, but all in my head. My commute to work is a particular source of creativity, as I have drafted whole posts, walked across a city playing with words and phrases that never made it beyond my imagination. I have stopped, for a fraction of moment, to notice a skyline, a shadow, a sunrise and taken a mental image, having neither the time nor the confidence to stop amongst the rush hour crowds and capture it properly.

I have often reflected that in some ways that is enough; to have developed the reflex of noticing, and appreciating, the tiny moments of the world around me, is positive in itself without actually needing to record it. In some ways it feels more genuine to acknowledge such sights, indulge in some internal wordplay, for the enjoyment alone, and not out of a need to share it, or in the hope of some form of feedback. Yet, despite that, here I am, because I missed the act of making some of those words and pictures more permanent, and in a time of promising to start new habits, I felt strongly that it was time to revisit one that has brought me joy.

This is the first post written on my new tablet-laptop hybrid that The Husband kindly got me for Christmas, having listened to me lament that if I was ever going to manage to blog again I needed to work out a way of doing it more efficiently. It is not the writing that I have issue with (ok, sometimes I dither and fret about whether the whole thing is cringingly self-indulgent as I hover over the publish button), but it is more what I believe is technically called workflow. I'm hoping this new set up might well make things more straightforward, but we shall see. I'm still wondering whether to move from blogger, and whether to scrap the whole thing and begin again, as there is so much I would change if I was starting from scratch now, but we shall see.

I also had my first ever attempt at a bullet journal today (blogger cliché bingo anyone?!). Rather than a whole new journal I have used the neglected squared paper in the back of my Filofax, yes I am still old-school when it comes to stationery, and have drawn up a few rudimentary pages. I will see how it goes, I can see it being a wonderful source of procrastination as I face an imminent exam in January.

And so the first awkward attempt at ending a blog post for 2018, hopefully I will be back again soon. Hopefully I will also revisit some much-loved and much-missed blogs in the coming weeks too. There is much to catch up on, but for now, Happy New Year.