What if my friends couldn't comment anymore? What if my friends weren't here to tell me they like my latest creation, or thoughts and writing, or weren't there to sympathize or celebrate along with me. What if my (blogging) friends simply DISAPPEARED FROM MY LIFE.
Egad - panic has set in.
Its a symptom of stress, I know that. My shoulders are hunched up around my ears these days, my neck aches, and I often feel teary. I've been checking email and blogs incessantly for days. I want to post every 10 minutes to simply reach out to people. The weather has been cold enough to not get in regular exercise outdoors, but warm enough so that there isn't snow for snowshoeing - so no exercise means more stress.
I certainly believe that I need a break.
Solutions:
Tomorrow I head out for an early morning walk, the first one in months. I will banish this stress as much as I can. I am going to CUT BACK ON WORK (for goodness sakes...do I have to have it hit me in the head??) and get some balance back.
I bought tickets for my BFF, my neffies and me to go to Florida for a few days in March. That'll help.
I going to sign up for an oil painting class and another comic class in the spring session. I do plan to publish this year.
I will not panic!
(this is a purple blow up gorilla we saw in florida last time we were there. I couldn't get a good shot from the car, but I feel like him right now with my arms up in the air)
My friends are still out there...I know that. Smooches!
27 comments:
Oh, computers...I am just glad when mine turns on in the morning...enjoy your get away!
We are present,and checking in.
We'll be here, with or without word verification!
And that's a promise, you'll see!
I can relate so much to a lot of this post.
I was a lot like this a couple years ago,,there just wasn't enough of me to go around. Full time job, lake house building on the week-end, traveling to see Jack, and squeezing in a little art now and then.I'd thought I would continue working for several more years, but one day I woke up and I'd had enough.One of my long term clients had decided to work until 66,,,,to get her full s.s. benefits. She died just short of 64 of a heart attack, and had worked her entire life. Not one day of retirement.
Hardest decision I'd ever made, but has proven to be the best, as I took early retirement.
You're right to stop and take a look around, see other options, subtract some things, add others. Time to take stock and inventory,
and do whatever it is you can to make things smoother.Life is too short to spend it in a kink.
All the best, Mim,,,and hugs back atcha!
♥
okay, that's it strictly from my point of view. i miss you and i want to see you and if you feel the same way, good. time to make it happpen, sister. hearts;
mim, this is such an honest post. and i have felt this way too, often on a holiday like christmas when we are all with our families but i am also looking for comments, messages, emails from my friends here, so many who have come to matter so much.
no job is worth the stress, mim. you don't need it and you don't need it, if you know what i mean.
i have often felt alone and been alone. it;s hard to reach out and ask. easy to forget that there are people who love me (and YOU) and would be there in a flash.
zoooooooom.....
love
kj
ps i had my entire blog backed up yesterday. put onto dropbox. what a relief i feel.
let me try this heart again: ♥
Still here and still reading! You sound like you've got a good game plan ahead. Now stick to it.
I am so glad you wrote what you wrote.
I get up every morning to check email and my blog. I am not exactly affected strongly/adversely if there isn't much in the way of feedback (about blog posts) but I am OVERJOYED when there is. I would VERY MUCH miss it if there was nothing.
I would miss the friends...
the comraderie I feel. The connections. I do care about my blog friends and their lives.
It's even okay if they don't care about mine.
I sometimes wonder if I "depend" on it too much.
If I should be doing something else instead.
But I KNOW I have gained SO MUCH from having it and doing it. I KNOW I have gotten involved in art to the extent that I have BECAUSE of it and the people in it.
And I keep branching out because of meeting new bloggers and seeing their art.
If I listed everyone here I have been inspired by I would be typing all night long.
I keep cutting back my hours at work. I'm not ready to give up the income entirely. I'm way past retirement age as we used to know it to be.
But I feel I have a good balance of work and play. And my career still gives me great satisfaction. It also has a few headaches. But they are few. I like helping people and I do that there.
It feels good. Win-Win.
I also love leaving work for the weekend and drawing during and after work and on the weekends.
so I am here to stay no matter what challenges Blogger/google presents us with.
Enjoy your walk tomorrow.
Remember to smell the roses!
Life is good and it IS precious.
I hope I am making every day count.
Hugs from me!!!!
Hi Mim!
xx
I read on Lynns post you put your blog off & back on & then off comment moderation again like mine is. Like I said, my spam does go to a spam file. You go to comments in your dashboard and at the top when it opens up click on the word SPAM.. and thats where the spam should go.. you just delete it regulary. It might come to your email but not on your blog. Sorry your so stressed out. Sounds like you have some sound ideas to conquer the stress. I sometimes think February is the worst month of the year. Its smack in the middle of winter, its been cold & dreary with short days still and we've been stuck inside forever it seems, Spring & Summer seem like they are never going to get here. Nows the time to kick butt and get past it all. So its good you got those plans going. You've motivated me! :))
Mim, I don't have word verification, and I only remember one instance in which I had to send a comment to the spam folder. You might try moderating them without requiring the verification and see how it goes.
All pretty normal Mim ... well I would say that wouldn't I? I recognise completely the full range of emotions and thoughts as described.
The trick is to do exactly as you've done ... to recognise and accept what's going on, and then to do something about it.
I think in times of uncertainty we tend to cling so much more to the things we know ... and however counterintuitive it might seem I do so totally understand why work is right up there on the list. It's part of letting go to first hold it more tightly than ever.
I couls sit here from far away and re-assure you that you will be fine. I know you will be, but in the meantime I also know it doesn't feel like that. So I will send you a hug instead and hope it helps.
... and I will check in again soon. xx Jos
I hope your walk does you good this morning. Get out there and work off some of that stress. We will all be here when you return even if we fuss and fume about that awful word veri. It isn't enough to cause us to stop reading blogs.
ok, no WV thingy came up so I will write.
So sorry you are giong through all this but it sounds like a transition time for you or that you are getting geared up to transition into a new way of shaping your life and those times are often stressful, confusing and so forth.
i know i would miss my blog friends and so enjoy getting and giving comments. I turned off the WV function and will wait and see if I get spam.
Walks. Yes. And up here this has been a great winter for walking, ie not too cold, no snow. Have I been taking advantage of that? No. Just once or twice and as I walk I say, hmm must do this every day, but then I dont.
big hugs to you. Love, suki
This word verification thing is for the birds. I am gritting my teeth every time I comment on a blog that has it. I know this feeling, Mim. I had it just this week. Anyway, I am here, waving my pom-poms and telling you I love to come to your blog and visit you. I need to go on a walk, too. Hope you have a great weekend, and I'll be thinking of you as I check my emails - lol! xox
Mim, I can relate! My shoulders are attached to my ears too, family and dog worries have taken a huge toll, but we can both get our shoulders back down by remembering to breath and take one day at a time. And cut back on work.
P.S. I hate the new word verification too!
xoxo
Ah, Mim...you KNOW I can relate to all of this! The job *thingie*...well, been there...etc.
The limited (or no) access to your blog.....I have been living with this since *Day 1* - when I created mine...some people can never *find me*...or have waged HUGE *WARS* trying to.... our Blogging Family DOES mean so much to us all... but we truly are at the mercy of PC's, the Internet, Blogger etc. I have gathered the personal E-mails of those nearest and dearest to me...so if anything happens to one or all of our blogs, I will still have a link...
Methinks you are tired from the on-going stress at work - plus the lack of excercise...and...the lack of an Art Class...something your soul needs for replenishing! You ARE listening to your heart - signed up for a class, going (I hope) on that walk this morning, planning the FL trip, cutting back on work hours... you must channel *Miss Em*...and *go forth*!
Love, Always,
♥ Robin ♥
p.s. A new doggie would also be nice... ♥♥
Yep, I'm still here. That's funny about your word verification. I never have mine turned on and I never get spammed. Strange. Watch, now I will.
I know how you feel about the cabin fever. That's why I go hiking in the cold. It's nice to get out just a little from time to time.
I don't think I could give up blogging either. Sometimes I just have nothing to say, but it's nice to hear what's going on in all your lives.
Keep moving.
you know mim, i think an emergency visit to the yarn store is called for.
sending hugs and sandy warm ocean breezes. xxoo lori :)
I hear you on the word verification thing. I just spent at least an hour trying to get it off my blog and finally succeeded...I hope.
Go to the yarn store!!!
I too have ranted many a good and filthy rant about the word verification issues....like everything else with Blogger, wait a month. It'll all be changed again! (for better or worse...)
I think we've all had enough of a long winter and need a get away, mentally or physically.
I keep looking at the train from Chi-Town to New Orleans and planning down the road, after the chemo.
A sleeper car! AH! That just makes me happy to read it.... :-)
XXOO~~
Anne
Thank you all!!! I'm feeling less panicked now...after a sleepy day of doing nothing. Lovely
(Grinning sheepishly)
Spam file on Blogger? Who knew,,,not me! Checked mine out,,,,and
HAHAHHAHAHHA 437!
Thank you Cris!
Bloggers looking after Bloggers, in spite of BLOGGER!
kiss kisskisskisskisskisskisskisskisskisskisskisskisskisskisskisskisskisskisskisskisskisskisskisskisskisskisskisskisskisskisskisskisskisskisskisskisskisskisskisskisskiss ♥
I've never used the word veri thingy because I use the spam blocker thingy although I don't remember signing up for it!
I see comments awaiting moderation and then mark them as spam or allow them to be posted.
I miss you Mim!!
I hope to find the balance soon to be posting and visiting more.
xoxo
Love,
Lo
Life is someties all about balance.....
JHope you find it and the panic goes away.......We are still here :)
I am in Bangkok no so not blogging a lot and rarely leave comments .
Take care dear!
<3
So I've been terribly remiss about responding to anyone's blog posts lately. I'll try to do better. Hi Mim )
With or without word verification: we are still here ;)
I loved your post! I feel this way too, all too often. That's what's so great about this blogger world, we can connect in so many ways, yet we've never really met. I get worried when I don't have any comments and my husband teases me and says, I guess nobody likes you today, but I know he's just teasing because I check it too often. We all have little insecurities don't we?! I know that I struggle to find time to get to all my blogger friends, so I assume they are in the same boat. Probably much too busy to be making comments on mine too!
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