I’ve done work on this website since the last time I sat down to write a blog post. I added pieces to my portfolio, I customized a new theme, and I’m in the middle of working on a new piece of the puzzle (to be continued in 2017).

While the website had some work done, the Blog page remained stagnant, waiting for me to write something incredible. But every time I sat down and thought, “Oh, I’m going to write a GREAT blog post today,” I felt an overwhelming sense of fear. My response to this fear, flight vs. fight, was flight: pushing my reasons for starting to write a blog behind me because I was scared the posts would never be good enough.

Since I have launched this website, I have gotten many opinions on the blog and how I could make it better, which I have loved, since any and all feedback is invaluable. Tweak this, add that, make sure you’re posting consistently, make sure your posts are thought-provoking.

But the problem I faced was a lack of time to sit down and satisfy every critic. When I have a chance to relax, I like to do activities that actually relax me, not stress me out. And crafting the perfect blog was becoming stressful. 

A couple months back, I was having a conversation with one of my best friends from my hometown (who, fun fact, also has a blogging site). We were talking about what was going on at school, and got onto the subject of our blogs. She said something that really stood out to me:

“I don’t know, I don’t want this blog to be something that stresses me out, you know? I want it to be something I can have fun with.”

Fun. How had I forgotten about fun?! Because I wasn’t allowing myself to have fun through writing this blog, because I was taking it so seriously, I had a severe case of writer’s paralysis: the mind-stopping fear that leaves writers feeling disengaged and unable to carry out their work.

As we move into 2017, I am not going to try to predict the future, or create the best breakout blog every to be written, I am just going to have fun with what I’m writing. I know this will overcome my writer’s paralysis, and get me back to feeling inspired by the world around me.