So this past year, I did very little blogging…that is until the end of the year. It was a huge work year for me and I did work to stay true to my resolutions for 2014. These included more family time and being kinder to myself, doing a pull-up, head stands in yoga, and learning to play “Timber” on the harmonica. While I feel completely short on learning to play “Timber.” I did at one point master the headstand–then quitting yoga and my pull-up is sooooo close–it will surely be mastered this year). I think I was overall more kind to myself and definitely worked less hours. I probably shouldn’t own up to that but I think it is important to distinguish working less hours and by learning to become more efficient–to which I think I did.
Balancing family-work-self is no small task. I did however get more comfortable with writing in shorter lengths of time–my typical 3-4 hours sessions reduced to 2 hours or less. However, my “start-up” time is still about 20-30 minutes. This is the amount of time it takes me to get in the mind set to write and includes my morning writing ritual. I suppose I could cut this in half, however I clearly do not want to and consider this a part of my “me time.”
Two things had to give this year for me to stay true to my family-work-self goals. The first is my running decreased immensely. In 2013, I ran weekly if not more often, this past year I dropped to monthly. Also, my 2012 goal to blog more fell away. I just didn’t have the time in balancing my other obligations. In thinking about 2013 and this year, I feel like I did pretty good and made good decisions for myself and my family. I can deal with running less and regarding the blogging, the real goal was to put my self out there more.
So while I did in fact blog less, I do feel I still put myself out there. In fact, very little blogging occurred on this site and took place in other venues. To catch everyone up, here is a quick review of my blogs from this year that did not take place here. I believe they offer sociological substance and ideally quality over quantity.
Power, Pomp, and Plaid: Lumbersexuals and White Heteromasculine Pageantry with Tristan Bridges
Professional Football: A Queer/Masculine Paradox
Sociological Images Christmas Film Review: Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer
What I learned this year about blogging, is that I prefer to sociologically blog for more established sites more than on my own site. As such, it is very likely this blog will become more about my various other interests primarily regarding academia, productivity, my own research, along with my own adventures with blogging and social media.
Lastly, I am particularly grateful to Tristan Bridges, Lisa Wade, and CJ Pascoe in supporting, guiding, and stimulating my interests in public sociology.
