So I’m not feeling terribly inspired, but something is on my mind. I’m not going to explore it too much. But I’ll give you the gist of my opinion.

Much of our pain in relationships comes from the misperception or misunderstanding that we know what’s going on with everyone and that we know why they do what they do. We don’t know. And while we have to make decisions and go on with our lives anyway, it doesn’t help anyone to assume you know what’s going on with them. Ask them if you genuinely want to know, but respect their right not to tell you.

This doesn’t come from anything affecting me directly at the moment. A friend is going through something and it triggered this line of thought.

Thanks for reading and please, cough/sneeze into your elbow, wash your hands often and don’t touch your face if your hands aren’t clean.

Most everyone is familiar with that quote, right? And getting started with something is difficult.

But for me it’s the second step (and the last step) that gives me the most heartache, hesitation and pain. You see, most of the time I have ‘beginner’s luck’ or in other areas, I know how to make a good impression, etc. Example, I’ve started a blog many times, but continuing the blog has been a problem. The first time I do something, I can jump into it, but after that, I bring more consciousness to the table. And consciousness often comes with insecurity and doubt and the question “is this really worth the effort?”

But I know I want to give the blog the entire 30 days before I make a decision. And I feel pretty confident that I want to blog with some regularity without a trial, so I just  need to work through this discomfort. So I will.

(Why is blogging difficult for me? Because I have a strong sense of privacy and as much as I have written in my life, I rarely share in public. But since both of those things have to change one way or another, I know I can get over it.)

“The man who can drive himself further once the effort gets painful is the man who will win.”  - Roger Bannister

So tell me, which step is the hardest for you? The first step? The second step? Somewhere in the murky middle? The finishing step? How do you handle it?

Well, I’ve had trouble blogging consistently in the past, but I’ve had some success with forming good habits by focusing on just one new change for 30 days straight. In the past, I’ve had success with changing eating habits, exercise and even journal writing by making a 30 day commitment and I was pleased with the results, although sometimes I have discovered that 30 days is not only a perfect amount of time to form a new habit, it’s also a fair amount of time to determine that you aren’t actually interested in that particular habit becoming a part of your life.

So today I decided that I will commit to creating a blog post everyday for 30 days, come hell or high water.

Rules:

1. Every day for the next 30 days, ending on March 21st, I will post a minimum of one original blog post.

2. The entry does not have to be written that day (it can be written beforehand), but there is no excuse for not posting an entry

3. A minimum of one sentence must be original, ie, written by me. In addition to the original text, photos, videos, quotes, links, etc. may be posted, but are optional. Editing may be done at any time, but will not count as an additional entry, even if the post changes almost entirely.

And that’s it!

At the end, I’ll do some sort of evaluation or write-up (evaluating throughout or as a separate entry is allowed) to determine where I want to go with my blog, what I enjoyed or didn’t like, etc.

So how did you get off the ground into blogging regularly? Have you ever done a 30 day Commitment to change a habit?

Except that I secretly continued to draw.

And a transformation in my life has opened up my spring of inspiration and albeit slowly, I am writing.

I’ll share more about both of these areas in my life later, but I found an interesting parallel (and lack of one) in my new creative endeavors.

While reading a how-to book on drawing technique, I read the advice that the only way to draw well is to have an internal dialogue not with what you are drawing, but with the subject.

And eureka! That is exactly the key to opening the dam and letting my writing flow out too. When I write, I no longer think, “that sentence isn’t right” or “What I have on the page doesn’t make sense” as much as I keep following the story in my head.

On the other hand, as I am also diving into slr photography, there is a hurdle of vocabulary and settings I must learn before I can relax and have a conversation with the subject.

As I’m writing this, I see reasons that might explain the difference or even diminish it but for now I’d like to hold this thought and ask what you think.

Do you notice a pattern in how you create and how you learn?