September is probably my favorite month. The weather turns cooler. School starts up again. By month’s end the world is painted in glorious oranges and reds and yellows. I can wear sweaters. Our son was born in September. My mother was born in September. The list goes on and on.
September’s seasonal change always gives me creative energy, and this year is no different. When I noticed recently that the blog theme I had been using for the past couple of years (Standard) was no longer going to be supported by its creators, I was more excited than upset. Over the next few days, the look of this website and blog will probably go through a few transformations as I decide what theme to use next. Right now I’m experimenting with Weaver II, which seems to be very flexible.
Another change is that I have realized I need to blog more fearlessly. At some point between the time when I began blogging and now, I started thinking too much about it—second-guessing whether topics would be interesting or whether I had anything valuable to say; over-analyzing how this person or that person might react, whether I would inadvertently offend anyone, or if I knew enough to do the topic justice; and being hyper-sensitive to the admittedly sometimes cringe-worthy overly promotional part of blogging and writing.
I became overly cautious not only with what I wrote but also with what I thought and said and did. Perfectionism trumped creation, and I’ve decided that the cure is to throw myself back into blogging whole-heartedly, fearlessly, without reservation and without looking back, as a way to reconnect with my own thoughts and feelings, knowing that I am representative enough that others will be able to connect, as well.
What are your September and fall plans? Have you ever over-thought your writing or blogging to the point of paralysis? How did you start creating again?
Photo credit: Geri-Jean Blanchard