
All I want is for my GPS to work in Cyberspace. I have been intermittently searching, floundering in confusion, distracted by shiny things, always with a quiet longing for an odd-shaped part missing, a bag that I lost at the space station before launching off on a trip that took too many detours and alternate routes that didn’t turn back at the end of the day, week, year. I lost this blog on the way.
How have you been? Years have passed, how is your dog? Have you moved? Has your life wandered off the plan and you know things now that you didn’t know then? Perhaps you are wiser in your eyes, your bones have kept time, and your life has unfolded in unexpected ways like mine has. What have you lost along the way? Seems it’s always a trade, but we are still here, bittersweet survivors of time passing. Really, how are you?
At the end of 2019, I started an online group and hired a designer to build the website to corral all the assorted parts, adding up to a total of sixty-eight pages. My previous website had five. The site is like a massive space station that lacked the sweet fluid lines of a starfighter and instead looks like a few banged-up metal filing cabinets strapped together floating on the dark side of Jupiter. I thought this blog and you, dear reader, had been cut adrift forever in the abyss of cyberspace. It took some forensic web digging, a few sessions of it, to find my way back. And you were here all along, at least I think so. Are you here?
Then Covid moved in and there went the neighborhood. There might have been more reading time, but it was disorienting to be an introvert during the pandemic. We missed turning down party invitations. Eventually, I heard about Cumulative Stress Disorder and diagnosed myself and about everyone I knew. What a strange few years it’s been.
I missed talking about writing and book covers and conversations about plots and characters. Sure, we love books but takes a special kind of word geek like the backside of this art. I’ve missed you. And this is to say I’m back and subscribe if it’s your first view.
In the first year of this blog, back in 2015, I brought you along while I floundered through my editing and publishing process on my first book and now, six books later, I’ve co-founded an independent press, Lilith House Press, to help guide other women on their way to publication.
In the years between those events, my life changed in ways I could have never imagined. But isn’t that true for all of us? That our lives take turns that feel totally unexpected. Are you doing what you thought you would at this age?
It’s been a bumpy ride and some of us have lost people we loved, lost places we wanted to be, and here we are on a new planet, at a new but older age than we’ve ever been, going someplace we can only guess about.
But we’re better at this than we give ourselves credit for. And we’re a little more grateful every day for the richness of this unpredictable life. Let’s exchange notes!
…
Anna Blake, Author
“Are you doing what you thought you would at this age?” Love this question. It’s interesting how life sneaks up on us.
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Yup. I never dreamed this…
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hey welcome back !! yes still here, although others were not so lucky. and things have change, a lot, and continue to do so!! look forward to subscribing, if i wasnt before, and joining in!! i have CSD too, like so many. as yo usai once before, lets write our way out of it!
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Best option I know. So glad you are back at it, too.
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One thing that wasn’t lost was your wonderful way with words, Anna. Been wandering in the wilderness somewhat during these unnerving times, but it’s good to hear your voice again, so I’m returning to the fold …
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Oh Hallelujah! So glad. I am missed you in particular!
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Anna, you invited us to exchange notes. Thank you! For years my “Follow” button on WordPress seems to have disappeared during our collective bumpy ride, but I wanted you to know that I’m really glad you’re back! I’ve missed you, too! https://truthinus.wordpress.com
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Maybe WP lost us behind Jupiter…
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This blog made me smile, and happy to see you 😉
Much love to you.
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Thanks, Deb. Best wishes.
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yes, tis been a journey, we can all write a book on the haps 🙂
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Funny you should mention that….
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Congratulations on Lilith Press,,I am not a writer but a huge champion for women. I’m about to have my first go at dressage this spring,,passed 70 a few years ago & figure why not?!? Thoroughly enjoy your books, blog & sense of humor,,you are a role model!!! 🤗
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Yay, dressage is the best. Good for you! And thanks for the kind words, Eileen. But donkeys are the best role models…
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Did I imagine that when I took to the road back in 2017 I’d be still doing it almost five years on? Had no idea. It was an experiment, but it didn’t take long before I knew this life suited me. No that it’s always easy, but the rewards are there, including actually meeting you in person! 😁👍
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I am so impressed with what you are doing, I so want to read about it. Last year I was on the road a fraction of that time, a small fraction, and it was amazing. Good to hear from you, Annie. I think of you often.
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Just love that you found this blog again! Your thoughts and words inspire me. Makes me think of the quote, “We read to know that we are not alone.” So many like-hearted women… Thank you for writing.
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I have that experience, especially traveling. Some of it is reading others and some of it is talking with readers as I write. We are the best company. Good to hear from you Elizabeth. I hope you’re well.
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Well, boy howdy!! is it ever good to see you here again, my friend! Loving the horse stuff, but miss hearing about the writing…cumulative stress indeed. But I’m still picking away at my novel, and journaling every single morning. My talisman of faith that when the dust settles, the writer Paula will still be standing. Or possibly lying flat out, but above all, breathing, stinky dog beside me, and trying very hard not, in these very odd times we find ourselves, to feel like that stranger in a strange land. Just seeing this today is making feel a lot better. A little island of solid ground amidst the torrent of time rushing past.
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So glad you’re writing, it’s our best defense. When all is done, words remain. Even if no one remembers how to read. love to you and Mr. Stinky
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