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Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Why Hiatuses are Beneficial to Your Psyche

It's spring now. It's also been 5 months and 2 days since I blogged. 154 days total. 3,696 hours. 221,760 minutes.

Now, I know most Writerly Bloggers will warn their avid followers (because you are my avid followers, aren't you? Hello? Is anyone still -- oh! I see you! You're still reading my blog, aren't you? YOU'RE MY PRETTIEST READER) BEFORE they take 5-month-long hiatuses, but, well, I like going against the grain.

I could blame my hiatus on a lot of things. I could say, for instance, that I got a new job that frowns upon the use of Twitter and Blogger by throwing up giant, horrible "WEBSITE BLOCKED -- YOU NASTY NASTY EMPLOYEE, YOU" signs whenever I try to access said websites. Or I could say that the holidays were SUPER BUSY, what with The Boyfriend's family living in one state and My Family living in another and airports and lost IDs and the aforementioned new job. Or I could say the truth. And the truth is:

I needed a break.

I needed a break from publishing -- in every sense of the word. I needed a break from bad news. I needed a break from good news too. I needed a break from books and queries and blog posts and Twitter feeds and news, news, news. I started to realize that the more I read and blogged and tweeted and TRIED to hold onto the Online Writing Community, the more I was getting --

bitter.

Horribly, disgustingly, darkly bitter. Bitter about every good thing that happened to every AMAZING friend/writer/colleague I know. Bitter about every single piece of good news. Bitter about the bad ones, too. I let it go on until I did get said aforementioned job, which does force me not to use Blogger/Twitter, which also inadvertently forced me to take a break while I got settled in to my new duties. And through that inadvertent forcing, I found I got much happier when I WASN'T constantly bombarded with news, news, news. So the first month may not have been a voluntary hiatus, but the last four certainly have been. And you know what?

IT'S BEEN GOOD.

I didn't put a time limit on it. I didn't say "Okay, self, you have to get NOT BITTER in X amount of weeks because there's a CAREER on the line here." I just let it go. Let myself take the time to come around to it, so I wouldn't fall right back into Bitterville at the first sign of re-emergence. Because no one likes a Bitter Blogger. Or, well, the General Public may like it when people are bitter and mean and Tabloidy, but you don't. Because you're not the General Public. You're Writer Public, and you are BETTER.

So while I cannot promise I will be blogging every day or tweeting every hour (new job still prevents such shenanigans. The lack of trust is ASTONISHING. And understandable. But mostly ASTONISHING), I can promise that I will be back to blogging regularly, at least once a week. And tweeting, too, because it's SPRING NOW, and everything needs to TWEET.

I can also promise I won't fall back into bitterness. Just like the tiny green buds The Boyfriend and I are cultivating in our kitchen, Good Things are growing, folks. I'm not quite sure what those Goods Things are yet, but I promise you, they don't live anywhere close to Bitterville.

10 comments:

Janet Johnson said...

Good for you for figuring out what you needed. I agree, breaks can be good. And bitter is bad. No one likes that not the reader, not the writer. But welcome back! Oh, and congrats on the new job. :)

Nikki said...

I've been wondering where you were. I mean, I knew you were in Utah, so I thought maybe they made you throw away all your electronics and start churning your own butter. Wait, that's Amish. Well, something like that. Anyway, I'm glad you're back <3

Renee Collins said...

I am a firm believer in breaks. This business is like a vampire: beautiful and alluring a times, but it also has a way of sucking the life out of you.

And unlike some fictional heroines that shall not be named, I'm not interested in an obsessive, co-dependent relationship with a vampire.

I just want to make out with one every once in a while.

Rachel said...

Good for you. I think it is so hard to be "on" all the time and it is important to take breaks. (Hi I'm Rachel) I used to blog constantly back in 2009 and I quit blogging in 2010, and now i'm back. And people often said to me, where'd ya go? I'll be honest. . . I needed a break. It was too energy-consuming for me. But I think now I am going to take it nice and slow.
Welcome back Sara!

Wyman Stewart said...

Welcome back Psyche. You were missed. While you were gone the entire moon was harvested. Not sure what they harvested, but take my word for it and ignore the way my nose is growing as I speak.

Well, I just posted on one peril of social networking that's rearing its ugly head. I've always suspected social networking is a beast not to be tolerated.


This blogpost offers many elements that would make for a great book. Just my opinion. Oh well, you've got to write what you feel.

:-) I've lost my train of thought, so I am off to Burger King for two (killer) original chicken sandwiches and a cup of ice cream, which are sure to clog something and commit the perfect crime one day. (Only the coroner will know for sure. Thankfully women have hairdressers, who always know for sure.)

Yes, yes, I am drifting off topic. Stream of consciousness or its opposite. I'm off to see the food wizard. Have a great life. Come visit my blog. You want to visit my blog. You must visit my blog. That's Writenotism. You're under my spell, until I find the secret word to awaken you. ARGGGHH! Off topic. Outta here matey!

Dara said...

Good for you :) I am much too addicted to the internet to take a hiatus. Or really, addicted to Facebook.

I understand the not-blogging thing. I think I've done 6 or 7 since my son was born in June. Almost a year ago. :P

Welcome back!

Candice said...

It's good to see you! I completely understand about the hiatus thing. The internet can really affect my mood some days. But I will internet stalk you whenever you feel like posting.

Sara B. Larson said...

Ditto to Renee and Candice. I couldn't say it any better. And welcome back. :)

Natalie Whipple said...

This post makes me happy:) Breaks are so important, and I'm glad you got the distance you needed. It's so easy to let the news, news, news get to you. I know I'm not online half as often for that very reason.

K. M. Walton said...

Welcome back. I've wondered how you were doing! Keep those good things growing, Sara.