Saturday, November 12, 2016

Psst...

I don't look like this anymore. That look is so last year. I have hair again. Not only that - I have a life again. I sing with three choirs, I'm active in my church, I'm meeting with my writing group every week. I'm trying to get my lazy body moving -- at least for a near-daily walk.

I've also developed an interest in my family history. My younger sister and I spent hours last month poring over Ancestry.com records. We found that our favourite uncle, who disappeared from our lives decades ago, has been dead for over twenty years.  That was hard -- but we also found parts of our history that were a complete surprise to us. I'm sure that anyone who was orphaned young goes through something similar when exploring his or her ancestry. Now we're going to check out our DNA -- more surprises to come, I hope. I love surprises.

So I'm coming back to life, little by little. No. Not little by little. In great leaps and bounds, followed by extended periods of exhaustion, followed by great leaps and bounds. Welcome to survivorship.

Has blogging gone out of style while I languished in Cancerland? I must have a look at the blogs I used to follow faithfully, to see whether the blogging life has gone on without me. I suspect (and hope) that it has, and that I've got a lot of catching up to do.

Last week, I went hunting through old posts on Amazing Voyages of the Turtle in search of a particular poem, one I wrote in 2009. I did find it, eventually, but I also discovered poems there that I'd completely forgotten. In a couple of cases, I had to scroll up and down to make sure that I had actually written them. They didn't even look familiar. I hardly ever write poems anymore. No, that's not right. I never write poems anymore.


It's not that my new life is devoid of creative outlets. It's just that I've let some things -- like poetry -- fall by the wayside, and it's been so long, I've come to doubt my ability to produce a poem, to write a blog... So this, the new blog, is by way of a renaissance -- at least, I hope it is. I hope that I can, in fact, go home again.


6 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Hi, Rita. I love you too. Remember how we used to write, back when we had blogs? Or - oh dear - have you been blogging and writing all along and I have just not been here to see it? I will check my long-ignored reading list.

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  2. After I moved to Whitby and sold the house I stopped blogging and only did it occasionally. I miss the blogging group Barry and I used to be part of. It takes so much time to produce blogs. I was also a part of Tess K.'s poetry group but that was very time consuming as well. Facebook offers a little less time writing and contacting people on line and more time to actually go out and meet new people. I have been doing that for now. I still enjoy blogging and may want to get back into it when I am a little older. I think it is always good to go back to things you enjoy. I would still enjoy coming back to read your posts, Sandra.

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    1. Thank you, Linda. I'm enjoying this transition. I think the U.S. election and its effect on my Facebook feed have caused me to look for a safe place, and this feels safe to me. Not that I am leaving Facebook, but I am going to try to spend less time and energy there.

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  3. It's great to see you in this space. You have a powerful story to share, & I'm glad you have a place to share it. Blogging may or may not have seen its heyday, but it still remains useful in many ways. Welcome back! : )

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