Hey Guys! It’s been awhile! Its just a month into 2016, and I could blame my lack of posts on all kinds of things, from being super super busy, to literally being disconnected while out of the country, to being (currently) couch-ridden with frequent bathroom breaks due to the typical gastrointestinal/exhaustion problems that often accompany international travel.
The honest truth is, however, that I have been really thinking about what I want to do with this blog… and the more I thought about it, the more I somehow became almost paralyzed without direction. In the last year, have toyed with all kinds of different posts, ranging from my discussions on chronic pain and PTSD to my attempted So Call Style posts, from Halloween DIY to Recipes, and from Music to Reads. Its been a fantastic first year… but I started to get to a place where I felt I was straying from what my vision for Mad Like Alyce was to what was easy…
A… DIY blog?
This was something that I ran into late 2015. See, after doing a whole month of Halloween… I was stuck in a DIY rut. I had gotten so used to the habit that I just felt compelled to keep going and going and going. I know that doing a ton of DIYs seems like it is more complicated than a normal post, but in actuality, it was kind of the lazy way to post, at least it was for me and the way I went about it. For a lot of the projects I was doing, it was essentially just recitation of a process plus pictures. The most time intensive part would often be getting the pics from my phone, resized, and uploaded. The rest just spilled onto the page without having to put too much thought into it.
It was also kind of exhausting. I often felt like everything I did had to be on the blog (by the way, if this sounds like you, watch Instagram Husband... so worth it!). It also kind of gets pricey… I admit it can get expensive buying crafts for projects, which isn’t always a bad thing as long as the project was worth it. This brings me to my second issue.
When I dove into my recent Christmas DIY’s with my mom, it was fun and she loved the result, but it honestly felt a little bit forced. I actually did more projects than I ended up posting. I just ran out of time and patience and didn’t have the heart left to get them up here. Liz Morrow posted a great 2016 post about how there are 1,000,001 blogs doing DIY projects, just pintrest it! And she is kind of right. Not that I don’t love my own projects but, if its not something that I love, why put the time and energy (and money) into it?
It finally hit me when a friend was talking about our writing projects in a group, and referred to mine as “my DIY blog” when I realized that I had started to lose my original focus, and that is not totally a bad thing! I am passionate about creativity, and really do love some of my DIY projects, but I don’t want to be just a DIY blog… and here in-lies the strange balance.
I feel like I have an opportunity to talk about my experiences in life with my chronic pain, as well as with continually tackling my PTSD. I want to share this with others. I want to help others in their journeys to a better life. And DIY’s were crowding that out. But on the opposite side of this is the fact that for many of my projects, it is my distraction from the pain. They are what get me excited, and help me stretch my legs creatively.
Getting back to center
What really helped me find my focus again was:
- Taking a break
- Re-reading my own intro paragraph. See the one at the top of this right column over here? Yeah… I may have forgotten to look there for awhile 😛
I’m Mad Like Alyce. Welcome to my experiences in aspiring to live a happier and healthier life while living with PTSD and chronic pain. There is so much life to live, and this is my journey to finding myself after a long journey of healing. Walk with me.
This, more than anything, helped me get a grip on what I really do want to post and what I could care less about posting. See… my Halloween obsession aside, I could really care less about holidays. Even Christmas isn’t really my jam. But doing home decor/improvements? I’m all over that. So I just need to make sure I’m not jumping on the bandwagon in a way that isn’t authentic to me. It’s not fair to myself.. clearly, I burned myself out a bit.
A Sincere Apology
Most of all, it’s not fair to you, my readers. I have felt incredibly guilty over the last few weeks. I wanted to post… but just didn’t feel like I had the right direction set for myself yet. I have had bloggers I read go through pauses and I know the disappointment when I check out their site multiple times in a week… then two weeks, only to see there is nothing new. I also now feel like I know a little bit more of where they are when this happens.
So here is to 2016 and continuing to grow myself as a writer, to growing friendships in my writing community, and to building relationships with all of you through this blog. (A very belated) Cheers!
Hi! I'm Alyce. 
