I just realized that if I start taking this “things will happen” approach instead of the typical “very unlikely to happen” approach then it is safe to assume that I will once again probably put this journal into limbo in the future. In realizing this, I have to ask myself is this really a bad thing? If not, then how can I prepare for this the next time it happens?
With regards to is it a bad idea, I don’t think so. I mean think about it. Sleep is a necessary part of our life. It allows us to recharge our batteries, otherwise we’d drop dead from exhaustion. The same goes with mental labour though. It’s been proven in studies that giving yourself a break from your work allows the information you’ve absorbed a chance to “digest” inside of you. Or to put it another way, it gives you a chance to step back from what you’re doing and look at things from a different perspective. That, more than anything, is usually what happens with me when I “close up shop” on my site for a while. I come back feeling really refreshed with a lot of great ideas.
So now if there is nothing wrong with taking a break then how do you prepare for it? I’ve seen some bloggers bring in guest bloggers to fill in when they’re away. Well, I don’t really see my site as a “broadcast” that needs to keep going uninterrupted. Hehe, actually if you want to compare it to television, think about how a television season works? You have a period where new shows are aired over a period of time but then there is an off season as well. Depending upon the show, this off season includes either nothing or will actually consist of reruns of previously aired shows.
So is that the idea then? When I “sign off”, do I give a good explanation of why I’m taking a break, summarizing a lot of points that are frustrating me and I need time to think about? Or maybe I could even create a bunch of posts (one a week) ahead of time that basically recap certain things I’ve talked about in the past, so they help fill in this break. I mean if you think about it, a lot of times that’s really what you’re doing the most on a journal anyways. You’re just repeating things in different ways to emphasize something. Anyways I guess I’ll just have to do a bit of thinking about this the next time I think about taking a break from the site.