Blogging: The Cure for the Common Blahs

Ever since I began my humble little blog over four months ago, I've started noticing a change in myself. Something... different. Not only do I think bloggy thoughts, and say out loud things like, Ooh! That would be good for the blog!, but I've also noticed a change in energy. An increase in original thought. A pep in my step, a dip in my hip, if you will.

[via magnusfranklin on Flickr]

All pointing to confirmation of my theory that blogging is a good cure for the common blahs. You know, when you go through those doldrum periods that are full of the ho-hums and the so-whats. The blahs. I know you people know what I'm talking about. Well, blogging, or writing, or being creative in general, is a way to get out of that funk and start seeing things for what they really are. I'm constantly looking for something to write about, which in turn means that my eyes and ears are open that much wider to new thoughts and ideas.

Here are things that you can blog about (or write about) on your own:

1. An interest (like books, or music, or bicycling, or DIY)
2. A challenge (a la Julie & Julia, or like my friend Jessica's blog below)
3. Your everyday life (because sometimes we need an outlet for our thoughts/ emotions)

But if sharing, or expressing, or writing is just not your cup of tea, I think you can still hit the recharge button by reading other creative material. From real people. Material that is honest, exciting, and personal, to give true insight and inspiration as to what individuals are doing on their own. And there's so much of it out there!

Take a look at what some friends of mine have come up with for their own blogs. One issues herself a challenge (and a damn good one, I must say). Another gushes over her love of books and stories and art. I like to find inspiration from these ladies when I can (which is why I have them so conveniently bookmarked in my Firefox toolbar).

Procrastination, U.S.A.
A yearlong experiment to motivate myself.
My friend Jessica made a list of the top 12 things she's always been saying she wants to do one day: learn Italian, run 3 miles without stopping, sew her baby blanket, start a blog. She wrote all 12 things down, put them in a hat, and on the first day of each month she draws out one of these to-do's and blogs about it. This month, she's painting her own pottery and catching up with old friends.

Marcel/Marcelette
Read books. Make art. Meet people. Share stories.
A good resource for underground artsy things going on around town, like the Eastside Studio Tour or Fusebox Festival. Blog author Sarah also started a local MothUp in the spirit of The Moth's popular storytelling podcast. On top of all this, Sarah writes pretty good book reviews on her blog, some of which have inspired me to either head to BookPeople or cancel my Amazon.com order.

Other blogs I like to reference are written by people I don't know personally, but maybe one day we'll be real-life friends. Or pen pals. Or, what's the equivalent of an e-pen pal? Keyboard kindred spirits? I've bookmarked their blogs as well and graze over them often to find my weekly pick-me-up, new inspiration, some fresh insight. And also just to keep in touch with my blogging buddies (ooh, that's the new pen pal!).

Color Me Katie
Written by a Brooklyn street artist and photographer.
My friend Ashley turned me on to Miss Katie last week. Check out her colorful and inspiring posts! She's like a kid at play and New York City is her playground. My favorite is her post on the presents she left for people in the park. And of course I love anything having to do with her cow-colored cat named Moo.

Your Wishcake
Written by a young southern California girl finding her way through life.
Kerri, the writer of this blog, is one of those people whose work I read and then instantly feel like we could become best friends. (I also feel this way about Sarah Vowell and Sandra Bullock; good company, I know.) Your Wishcake's honesty, good-heartedness, brilliant writing and overall splash of silliness make me look forward to thumbing through her posts about once a week.

Isn't this fun? The whole blogging world? Strange new world we live in, the way you can connect with complete strangers over the internet without ever meeting or communicating with them.

Tell you what. How about we make a deal? How about you challenge yourself to single out something unique in your life. Something that you find especially interesting, a little bit remarkable, and wholly worthy of being remarked upon. Then start a blog. Buy a journal. Create an online journal. Write down inspiring thoughts to yourself and tape them to your bathroom mirror. Try any or all of the above, and see what kind of world opens before you.

Because once these words are written down in black and white, staring at you in the face, you'll start believing what everyone else has been seeing all along. That your life is pretty incredible, full of richness and meaning. At least one small snapshot of it is. And I think that's worth discovering for yourself, don't you think?

In the meantime, happy blogging / blog reading.

Resolutions

New Year's Resolutions: we make 'em so we break 'em, right?

Maybe I'm foolish, but I really like the idea of starting fresh every year and resolving to do better things with life. I mean, we all need a little gut check every now and then, right? Come February though, March for a particularly tenacious year, those January resolutions have dissolved to nothing more than forgotten pipe dreams that are left collecting dust for the next 9 months; that is until they're brushed right off the next time Jan. 1 rolls around and we think, Maybe this will be the year.

Well, I'm clearly still delusional and foolish, because I'm truly genuinely convinced that 2010 will honestly be one of the best years ever. For real. The big year of accomplishments, this is it folks, I'm telling you. And so I've compiled a list.

I like things in 3's (could this possibly have something to do with my Catholic upbringing?), and so here's a run-down of my top 3 resolutions for 2010:

1. Write more, through 3 (there's that number again) new writing projects I've made up for myself:

a) Keeping up the Miss B blog, a goodbye of sorts to my single self;

b) Capturing our engagement story, down to every last hopelessly romantic detail, because it's a pretty great story that I know I'll want to remember forever, even after the Alzheimer's kicks in; and

c) Compiling the Hong Kong love letters. This last one's another post altogether, but to sum up, I studied abroad in Hong Kong a couple months after Clay and I first started dating, and since I rarely had access to long-distance telephone, we wrote back and forth some pretty prolific and intense e-love-letters.

2. Run fast! This week, I start a new running program with Coach Darren Brown designed to make me a lean, mean, faster-than-ever running machine. Our goal race is the Texas Round-Up 10k in April, with a few other races along the way. The past few years, I've been in a 50+ minute time rut for my 10k race (10k = 6.2 miles). I'm hoping this program will cut me down to below 50 minutes, and maybe even get close to 45? Well, a girl can dream.

And last but not least...

3. Marry Clay.

Ok, so I might be slightly cheating with that last item. That's definitely going to happen this year, even if I have to drag Clay down to City Hall to do it. (Note: Eloping or showing up at City Hall to get married is a secret dream of mine that would never actually happen. My mother, and even Clay, would sooner disown me than miss seeing me walk down the aisle/garden path/hallway/[fill in the blank], along with 250+ closest friends and family also looking on, naturally.)

But anyway, I think it's an awesome list if I do say so myself. I've got everything covered, mind, body, and soul. Mind: write. Body: run. And Soul: marriage, because you know I'm pretty sure Clay just might be my soul mate. (Yeah yeah, I know I'm sappy, I just got engaged, what do you expect? Just please try and refrain from gagging all over my blog, thankyouverymuch.)

A very Happy 2010 to you and yours, and cheers to the new decade! Did I mention that I really like the even years?