Notivation

I just wrote 1496 words in a draft. I’m glad I did, even though I may never post it.

Lately, my keyboard has felt like quicksand. I have all these things I want to write about, but haven’t been able to muster up the motivation to do it.

Hence, Notivation.

So, tonight, I sat down with the mission to write. About anything. And oh man, a lot came out.

I like to think there’s an overarching theme to everything I write. That being said…

The post was somehow trying to connect my upcoming birthday, with needs vs. wants, and what if there was no calendar to tell us what to do every day, and then I got into how kids are taught to behave in school vs. how adults behave in the real world, and then I was arguing how the world isn’t fair, and that people with money have power, and certain rules don’t apply to them.

And just when I was about to link all of that back to rules in school and a world without a calendar, I stopped writing, and started writing this.

I’m sure a bunch of you are probably clamouring for me to post that, right?

To me, that post was about me writing the first thing that came to mind. It was about me moving the boulders out of the way, so I could write about the things I actually feel like.

And I knew if I published it, I’d just get comments telling me they agree or disagree with me, and that’s not what I was trying to do. I didn’t really care to share my perspective, or ask for yours, I was just writing stuff down.

Oh yeah, I also mentioned in the post how I’ve felt like a combination of a piñata and a hot air balloon, lately.

All these thoughts have been inside me, but I float away before someone can hit them out.

I gave myself a pat on the butt for that analogy.

Why the butt? Well, I thought I might as well make that sentence cause a reaction, seeing as how I didn’t actually pat myself anywhere and it was simply a figure of speech.

Writing 101 – Play with your words and they’ll play with your reader.

In recent weeks, I’ve found myself missing how WordPress was in 2015. There was just so much creative synergy between bloggers back then.

There were dozens of us, who seemingly posted something new every other day, and it was always entertaining. People weren’t caring about filling a niche, they were just writing.

We fed off each other. We inspired each other. Everyone’s comment section was buzzing.

I couldn’t wait to write my next post.

Three years later, pretty much all of those bloggers are gone.

And I’m not saying I haven’t come across great bloggers since then, but my Reader has never been the same.

Sometimes, I’ll blame myself and think I should be doing more to create that community again. I tell myself I should be writing more. I should be funnier. I should be more entertaining. I should be commenting more.

I should be the domino that falls first, to get this place back to where I know it can get to.

But then I’ll have these stretches where I have no motivation to read or write anything, so how could I possibly lead the charge?

There are some of you still here who may remember those days in 2015 where it felt like every single post in your Reader was a must read.

Perhaps I’m preaching from a high horse, when I shouldn’t be, but I am because somebody has to.

Where have all the funny blogs gone?

They’re under the humor tag, Paul.

No, they aren’t. Well, okay, a few are.

There used to be a looseness to this place. I don’t know if it’s a sign of the times, but whenever I go looking for blogs to follow, I find people trying to play the role of a blogger, rather than just writing.

So, with that, I encourage all of you to just let go of yourself. Open a blank draft and just write about what comes to mind. You don’t even have to post it, just let yourself free.

The blogging community is at it’s best when we’re all feeding off of each other. When something I write, inspires something you write, and something you write inspires someone else, and so on.

It’s not about me being the first domino. It’s about all of us wanting to be the first one to fall.

This is the end of my “Old man yells at cloud” spiel.

If you want to unfollow my blog, I won’t understand, but go ahead.

Happy Writing, and Happy When’s Day!

Play with your words and they’ll play with your reader.