Every day I get asked by countless people (and by ‘countless people’ I mean, of course, my wife) “When are you going to update your blog?!” So far this year, I’ve posted a little less than 2 new entries. Pathetic. Is it because I have nothing to say? Those who know me would argue otherwise; I’ve been known to prattle on for hours about the most mundane, disconnected string of minutiae with barely a breath or pause for response. Or have I simply become disenchanted by this assumed role of ‘blogger’ and abandoned my early hopes of internet stardom and a teeming fan base? Of course not. In all honestly, I blame Newton.
Newton’s first law of motion (which he totally retweeted from Galileo, by the way) applies to physical forces, and basically says that a body in motion will stay in motion, whereas a body at rest will stay at rest (ignoring those pesky little external variables of course) – often called the Law of Inertia. This, my loyal reader(s?), is the root cause of my inactivity these couple of months. Restating ol’ Newt in the blogging context: “A blogger ‘in the groove’ will type his little fingers off ad nauseum, whereas a lapsed-but-good-intentioned blogger will stay on the couch watching CSI and blame some 17th century scientist for his lyrical lethargy.” That’s draft wording, but you get the point. Many times I’ve thought “Oh! I should write about this, or that, or something-or-other to at least get Stockholm Syndrome back to the top of the list!” but inevitably fall victim to my own inertia. Hmm, I need to think about this more. I’ll do it tomorrow. Or on the weekend. Wait, who reads this stuff on the weekend? Nah, I’ll do it Monday. It’s a viscous cycle, that, and one that if left unchecked, just makes it increasingly unlikely that come Monday there will be a new post. Eventually, the blog will gather dust and cobwebs, the loyal fan (singular) base will click over to more active sites, and what once had potential to influence, inspire, entertain, and – dare I say? – change the world, will have withered and died like a certain 17th century scientist but without an immortalizing Wikipedia entry.
So where does that leave me, this blog, and all my earlier good intentions? Am I to admit defeat (self-imposed, but still humbling) and slink off into the ether? Or can this pitiful display of blogging abandonment somehow be a lesson, a catalyst for change, a turning point in my otherwise shallow attention span? Newton’s law is true, yes, but with a major caveat – a body (blogger) at rest (lethargically eating Cheetos) will remain as such in the absence of external forces. Ah ha! So if something, somehow, were to push or inspire or compel me to write, maybe I would! Instead of re-reading those countless time-wasting news sites (excepting The Local, of course. Rock on, guys! Please don’t delete me), maybe I could spend a few minutes a day actually writing something heart-felt, or reactionary, or thought-provoking, or humourous, or damn-they’re-going-to-declare-me-insane-for-this… Maybe, with the right active force, this blog could come back to life, a weak pulse at first, then stronger, more fiercely, pounding away at the keyboard and readers’ sensibilities alike, rising to a thumping crescendo of textual intercourse that leaves me craving a smoke and a nap. Maybe…
So, here is my assumed challenge… For the next 29 days I will write one blog entry on anything and everything I think of. Why 29? Why not 30, or 25, or even 37 (in recognition of my recent attainment of that age)? Simple. This is an exercise in self discipline, in imposed order, and thus I will follow the 26 letters of the English alphabet, plus the 3 additional Swedish letters in honour of my new stomping ground. Beyond this sequential guide, that’s where the ‘order’ ends. Posts will be random, disconnected, wholly unrelated save for their relative position in the expanded alphabet. Some may be long, some no more than a couple of paragraphs; some will be about Sweden, others about abstract ruminations, still others about thoughts and observations and funny shit I see on my way to and from work. (Suggestions welcome. Seriously, what the hell am I going to do for ‘x’?! I don’t even know a xylopolist!) The goal here is not to present a cohesive glimpse at any one part of my psyche, or about any one particular topic; nor is it to gain back the throngs (i.e. almost 3!) of loyal readers this blog once enjoyed. It is simply to get back into the habit of writing, and thus thinking, about life and all its curiosities in a more regimented manner.
29 days, 29 blog posts, 1 big challenge, and zero hope of any of this making sense.
I’ll start tomorrow, inertia be damned.
Tags: 29 days, Miscellaneous