Friday, April 26, 2013

Prioritization: Or, the Fine Art of Hypocrisy and Procrastination



I have been putting off a much-needed salon appointment. The last receipt I have for a proper haircut is dated September 2010. I know this for certain because I am obsessed with tracking our finances. Some people live in anticipation of a zombie apocalypse. I live as though a tax audit could come at any moment. I blame this paranoia on the nature of self-employment.

Yet it’s not a matter of finances why I haven’t stepped into a salon. Rather, it’s my fear of commitment and a stalemate with the necessity of change.

I once had a stylist that knew exactly what to do with my hair. He was creative and impulsive, eager to experiment with color and cuts, and yet I trusted whatever he proposed. He knew my strands better than I did. So when he moved to Vancouver and I moved to Michigan, I feared the search for a new, trusting relationship.

I have dabbled. Three strangers have since cut my hair. But it’s not the same. I have yet to establish the rapport and the confidence I once had with a scissor-wielding warrior. So rather than make my stylist search a priority, I have conceded defeat. When necessary, I pick up the scissors and trim off my own split ends, content for the time being to ignore what needs to be done.

This is not unlike how I have recently treated my blog. 

For some time, I have been imagining a new layout, style, and approach to my blog. Of course, implementing these changes would take time and thus we come to the predicament. While I have the desire for change, I have not made this a priority in my schedule. Between an international move, getting hitched, roadtripping half the year, and—thankfully—a number of deadlines to tend to, the blog simply didn’t measure up in the priority list.

But each and every time I open my mouth to share social media tips, suggest ways we can connect with one another online, and exercise our creative brains through blogging, I want to smack myself down and point a finger. In not tending to my blog, I have become a hypocrite. So, enough is enough. No more. I may not make the time for my hair, but I am finally revamping my blog.

And, so, I now present the redesigned, newly titled blog, “Journeys & Destinations.” I will continue to share book reviews. I will continue to share musings on the craft of writing. I will most certainly continue to share opportunities for writers and feature interviews with inspiring authors. But I also want to share some personal stories. 

Since my husband and I roadtrip about 30,000 miles each year, purposely covering territory off the interstate, I want to share mini tales of people, places, and experiences from the small towns and bustling urban centers we have visited. I want to share the food we’ve tasted and the micro-roasted coffee that I am obsessed with finding on the road. I want to share our near brushes with disaster and our embarrassment in getting lost—only to discover something worth finding. I want to share and connect.

So hold me to it, dear reader. While I won’t be updating the blog daily, you should find at least one new post each week. That will make me feel like less of a hypocrite. That should put blogging back on the mid-list of my priorities. And, who knows? With this task in check, I may move my way down the list and make time, finally, to find a new stylist.

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